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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-13 14:21:45 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-13 14:21:45 -0800 |
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+ margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.footnotes { + margin-top: 1em; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.footnote { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em; +} + +.footnote .label { + position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right; +} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +.front-matter { + margin: auto; + max-width: 25em; +} + +.hanging { + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +.larger { + font-size: 150%; +} + +.noindent { + text-indent: 0; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + right: 4%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; +} + +.smaller { + font-size: 80%; +} + +table.smaller { + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 3em; +} + +.smcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; +} + +.allsmcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; + text-transform: lowercase; +} + +.tb { + margin-top: 2em; +} + +.titlepage { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 3em; + text-indent: 0em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img { + max-width: 100%; + width: auto; + height: auto; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .blockquote { + margin: auto 5%; +} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} +.illowp32 {width: 32%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp32 {width: 100%;} +.illowp37 {width: 37%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp37 {width: 100%;} +.illowp46 {width: 46%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp46 {width: 100%;} +.illowp47 {width: 47%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp47 {width: 100%;} +.illowp50 {width: 50%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp50 {width: 100%;} +.illowp51 {width: 51%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp51 {width: 100%;} +.illowp60 {width: 60%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp60 {width: 100%;} +.illowp63 {width: 63%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp63 {width: 100%;} +.illowp64 {width: 64%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp64 {width: 100%;} +.illowp65 {width: 65%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp65 {width: 100%;} +.illowp75 {width: 75%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp75 {width: 100%;} +.illowp88 {width: 88%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp88 {width: 100%;} +.illowp90 {width: 90%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp90 {width: 100%;} +.illowp92 {width: 92%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp92 {width: 100%;} +.illowp93 {width: 93%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp93 {width: 100%;} +.illowp96 {width: 96%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp96 {width: 100%;} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75369 ***</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_i"></a>[i]</span></p> + +<h1>THE PYRENEES</h1> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ii"></a>[ii]</span></p> + +<div class="front-matter"> + +<p class="center">BY THE SAME AUTHOR</p> + +<ul class="allsmcap"> +<li>PARIS</li> +<li>MARIE ANTOINETTE</li> +<li>EMMANUEL BURDEN, MERCHANT</li> +<li>A CHANGE IN THE CABINET</li> +<li>HILLS AND THE SEA</li> +<li>ON NOTHING AND KINDRED SUBJECTS</li> +<li>ON EVERYTHING</li> +<li>ON SOMETHING</li> +<li>FIRST AND LAST</li> +<li>THIS AND THAT AND THE OTHER</li> +<li>ON</li> +<li>A PICKED COMPANY</li> +</ul> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="frontispiece" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE GATE OF THE ROUSILLON</p> + <p><i>H. Belloc, del.</i></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iii"></a>[iii]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage larger">THE PYRENEES</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br> +H. BELLOC</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">WITH NUMEROUS SKETCHES</span><br> +BY THE AUTHOR<br> +<span class="smaller">AND TWENTY-TWO MAPS</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">FOURTH EDITION<br> +WITH A NEW PREFACE</p> + +<figure class="figcenter titlepage illowp64" style="max-width: 9.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/methuen.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p class="center">METHUEN & CO. LTD.<br> +36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<br> +LONDON</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iv"></a>[iv]</span></p> + +<table class="smaller"> + <tr> + <td><i>First Published (Demy 8vo)</i></td> + <td class="tdc"><i>June 3rd 1909</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><i>Second Edition</i></td> + <td class="tdc"><i>June 1916</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><i>Third Edition (Crown 8vo)</i></td> + <td class="tdc"><i>April 1923</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><i>Fourth Edition (Crown 8vo)</i></td> + <td class="tdc"><i>1928</i></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter front-matter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v"></a>[v]</span></p> + +<p class="center">TO<br> +<span class="larger">GILBERT MOORHEAD</span></p> + +<p class="noindent allsmcap">IN PIOUS MEMORY OF PAMPLONA, ELIZONDO, +THE CANON WHO SHOT QUAILS WITH A +WALKING-STICK, THE IGNORANT HIERARCH, +THE CHOCOLATE OF THE AGED WOMAN, +THE ONE-EYED HORSE OF THE PEÑA +BLANCA, THE MIRACULOUS BRIDGE, AND +THE UNHOLY VISION OF ST. GIRONS.</p> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vi"></a>[vi]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii"></a>[vii]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE</h2> + +</div> + +<p>The only object of this book is to provide, for those +who desire to do as I have done in the Pyrenees, a +general knowledge of the mountains in which they +propose to travel.</p> + +<p>I have paid particular attention to make clear those +things which I myself only learned slowly during several +journeys and after much reading, and which I would like to +have been told before I first set out. I could not pretend +within the limits of this book, or with such an object in view, +to write anything in the nature of a Guide, and indeed there +are plenty of books of that sort from which one can learn most +that is necessary to ordinary travel upon the frontier of +France and Spain; but I proposed when I began these few +pages to set down what a man might not find in such books: +as—what he should expect in certain inns, by what track he +might best see certain districts, what difficulties he was to +expect upon the crest of the mountains, how long a time crossings +apparently short might take him, what the least kit was +which he could carry into the hills, how he had best camp and +find his way and the rest, what maps were at his disposal, +the advantages of each map, its defects, and so forth. The +little of general matter which I have admitted into my pages—a +dissertation upon the physical nature of the chain, and a +shorter division upon its political character—I have strictly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a>[viii]</span> +limited to what I thought necessary to that general understanding +of a mountain without which travel upon it would +be a poor pleasure indeed.</p> + +<p>If I have admitted such petty details as the times of trains, +and the cost of a journey from London, it is because I have +found those petty details to be of the first importance to +myself, as indeed they must be to all those who have but little +leisure. I have in everything attempted to set down only +that which would be really useful to a man on foot or driving +in that country, and only that which he could not easily +obtain in other books. Thus I have carefully set down +directions as minute as possible for finding particular crossings +and camping grounds, for the finding of which the +ordinary Guide Book is of no service. My chief regret is that +the book will necessarily be too bulky to carry in the pocket; +for it is meant to be not so much a lively as an accurate +companion to the general exploration of those high hills +which have given me so much delight.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix"></a>[ix]</span></p> + +<h3>PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION</h3> + +<p>This third edition of my book on the Pyrenees +necessarily suffers somewhat from the fact that it is +published after the interval of the Great War.</p> + +<p>The book in its original form was written in the course of +1908-09, and contained a number of particular details on +prices, etc., which the war has completely changed. These +I have had to revise <i>only approximately</i>, for the value of the +franc still fluctuates violently. But the present conditions +of currency in Europe are not permanent. In other matters +the book is as applicable to the present condition of the +Pyrenees as it was to that thirteen or fourteen years ago. +The road system is the same, and though one or two of the +inns may have changed hands, the account of these I give +holds in the main. There have been no new maps issued, +either, since the date on which the book was written. I have +not added anything on the present system of passports, because +that also presumably will be out of date in a short +time; but I may mention that at the moment of writing +these lines (September, 1922), it is advisable to have one’s +passport <i>viséd</i> to Spain before visiting the mountains. Even +if the reader has no intention of crossing the frontier he may +be compelled to do so under stress of weather, or he may +easily do so by error in the confusion of the higher valleys, +and in the first Spanish town he comes to his passport is sure +to be demanded.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x"></a>[x]</span></p> + +<p>The train service differs little now from what it was before +the war. The night and day services and the average number +of hours required for approaching the mountains from Paris +or London, are again much what they were fourteen years ago.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi"></a>[xi]</span></p> + +<h3>PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION</h3> + +<p>I write this Preface to the Fourth Edition after five +years.</p> + +<p>My last note upon this book was written, as the reader +will see, for the Third Edition, in September, 1922. These +lines are written in November, 1927.</p> + +<p>When I wrote my Preface to the Third Edition, Europe, +its currencies, and the rest, were still under the heavy disturbances +of the Great War. But things are now more +settled, notably currencies. Also a few more years of peace +have given both French and Spaniards the opportunity for +building new roads, and for extending the railway system.</p> + +<p>In the notes I am about to add here I ought to make it +clear that I am writing principally by information rather than +by direct personal experience, and anyone who finds that +some point ought to be corrected or something added, and +who will communicate with the publishers, or with myself +care of the publishers, will be doing the future readers of this +book a great service. I am sure to be making some mistakes, +and the less there are in any future edition the better.</p> + +<p>I humbly beg the reader to remember that the book was +written in the old days of peace, “before ever the sons of +Achaia came to the land.” It was also written when I was +a young man and could go over any number of miles on foot +in any weather and over pretty well anything—even the +worst steeps of the Canal Roya, though I have no claim to +climbing. To-day I can do none of these things, and have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xii"></a>[xii]</span> +to go by hearsay. I propose to divide what I have to say +into (1) general remarks, (2) additions to the road system, +(3) the (comparatively slight) changes in the railroad system +(including the change in the value of money and present +prices of tickets), (4) changes in inns (here I shall have to be +very tentative, for I have to go mainly by reports), and (5) +maps.</p> + +<h4>(1) <span class="smcap">General</span></h4> + +<p>The political situation has so developed that it is no longer +advisable, as I formerly said, but <i>necessary</i> to have one’s +passport <i>viséd</i> for Spain before starting for the Pyrenees, +even if one has no intention of crossing the frontier. For, +as I said when the book was written, there are occasions +when the traveller on foot in the mountains may cross the +frontier unwittingly, and have to deal with the authorities +on the farther side. To this must be added the consideration +that a stricter central government in Spain, coupled +with occasional plots against it, has made the frontier +authorities particularly vigilant. They may take from a +traveller anything which looks like an offensive weapon—an +acquaintance of mine was deprived, for instance, of a +very large stick, and he might have fared worse with a very +large knife. It is well to remember that when you enter +Spain by this frontier you are coming in by its most remote, +least peopled, and most difficult area, and that one must have +nothing to explain if one can help it. I mean, of course, +when you enter over the main range; for the two main +roads and railways at either end of the chain by the sea-coasts +of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean are common +international highways.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xiii"></a>[xiii]</span></p> + +<p>Another point to remember, which is a small one but now +and then, though very rarely, important to the traveller, is that +the variation in the compass has changed since this book was +written. It was written twenty years ago, and was published +nearly nineteen years ago, and since then the variation of +the compass has lessened (for this part of the world) by +something like three degrees. The traveller must further +remember that (though it is not very strictly enforced) there +is a new law in France both for travellers proposing to reside +a certain time in the country and (this is strictly enforced) +a daily tax for travellers using foreign motor-cars in the +country; while all the Spanish corresponding regulations +have been tightened up. The wise thing to do, therefore, +if you mean to spend more than a fortnight in these hills +on either side of the border, is to inform yourself thoroughly +upon arrival of what is required of you. You can do it in +France easily enough; but as on the Spanish side the main +towns are a long way from the range, you will do well, if you +intend to spend any number of days to the south of the +frontier, to find out at the Spanish Consulate in London +or at your nearest large town what formalities may be +needed.</p> + +<p>On the effect of the change in prices I deal elsewhere. But +there are two things to be remembered here, with one of +which most people are familiar, but the other of which most +people have not as yet appreciated. The first is that on the +French as on the Spanish side, but much more on the +French side than on the Spanish, the old unit of currency +does not mean, in gold, what it meant when this book was +written.</p> + +<p>In France it means <i>in gold</i> only <i>one-fifth</i> at the present +apparently stabilized rate of what it meant when I first put<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xiv"></a>[xiv]</span> +these pages together. We are on a gold basis in England. +A franc used, before the war, to be nearly 10<i>d.</i> It is to-day +almost exactly 2<i>d.</i> On the Spanish side the peseta fluctuates +somewhat, but at the moment of writing it is well below +thirty (twenty-eight odd), which means that the peseta, +once nominally equal to the franc, is between 8<i>d.</i> and 9<i>d.</i>, +or rather more than four times the present value of the +franc.</p> + +<p>But the second point, which is much less generally appreciated, +is even more important to retain. <i>Prices in gold +have changed.</i> There are all sorts of views as to the real +amount of the change; but I think we are not very far wrong +in basing any calculation of expense upon a basis of doubling. +At any rate, if you do that you will not be disappointed. +The gold franc or gold peseta buys in 1927 more than half as +much, but not much more than half as much, as it did before +the war. In other words, the franc to-day is not in practice +half of a fifth, that is, one-tenth, of what it was before the +war, nor is the peseta in practice as little as fourpence halfpenny +compared with prices before the war. You get more +for your money than such a rough rule of thumb would +warrant. But remember that you are getting things cheaper +than the strict gold basis would allow. For instance, I know +of one particular inn on the French side of the frontier, high +up in the valleys (it is a very good one and a typical one), +where they charge for food, including wine, and lodging, +fifty to sixty francs a day. You would not have got the +same thing for five or six francs in 1914; but you would +have got it for seven or eight. My object in emphasizing +this is to prevent the traveller from thinking that under +modern conditions he is being bled. It is rather the other +way. He is getting things somewhat cheaper still in these<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xv"></a>[xv]</span> +mountains than world prices would warrant. He must +expect to pay on the very different scale I have indicated.</p> + +<p>Lastly, let me add in connexion with prices that, for a +variety of reasons which it would take too long to go into, +he must expect a very distinct rise in general expenses as +measured in English exchange when he passes from French +into Spanish territory. He must allow for something like +an increase of a third, and perhaps in the larger towns of a +half of what he pays on the French side.</p> + +<p>Further, when he is looking for anything like luxury, even +in the humblest sense of that term, he must be prepared to +pay (e.g. for foreign wines, or for well-appointed travel by +car) nearly double on the Spanish side what he would have +to pay on the French.</p> + +<p>The traveller should remember that there has been a very +great expansion of good roads on the Spanish side compared +with what there was when this book was written, and with +that has gone an almost universal system of motor-buses, +which have quite changed travel on the southern side of the +range. He will do well always to ask before trying to go by +the slow and few trains what the motor-bus services are. +Thus, in the old days when this book was written, a man had +either to go on foot or by slow horse vehicles across Roncesvalles +to Pamplona. To-day there is a first-rate service of +rapid motor-buses, and he will find that to be the case pretty +well everywhere between the Mediterranean end and the +Atlantic.</p> + +<h4>(2) <span class="smcap">Roads</span></h4> + +<p>In the matter of new roads a great deal has been done +since this book was written. First and most important, one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xvi"></a>[xvi]</span> +can go by a good road now over the Bonaigua. I regret it, +but so it is. The road does not, indeed, follow the old track +of adventure from the Noguera to the Upper Garonne. It +goes somewhat to the north of it. But it constitutes, what +did not before exist, a proper crossing supplementary to the +two roads of Sallent and Jaca. It leads down through the +hitherto impassable centre of the range to Lerida, and makes +of the Val d’Aran, which used to be a most secluded pocket, +a thoroughfare.</p> + +<p>Next, there is now a road which a motor car can follow +from Seo de Urgel to Andorra the Old. In my time no wheeled +vehicle had entered Andorra. They used to boast also that +no man had ever been put to death there by process of law. +I hope that progress has not changed that.</p> + +<p>Next note that there is a road for motors now through +Bourg Madame, through Puigcerdá to Seo, and so down into +Spain, and further a first-class road from Puigcerdá to +Barcelona over the Pass by Ripoll, which I think did not +exist when I was a younger man. The main road from +Burguete to Pamplona, cutting off the great corner at Aoiz +and passing through Erro and Larrasoaña, has long been completed; +it is now served by a good service of motor-buses.</p> + +<p>Of secondary roads that up the valley of Salazar reaches +as far north as Izalzu; that up the valley of Roncal as far as +Uztarroz. So if you are crossing the Basque ridge anywhere +between St. Jean Pied de Port and Tardets you will find the +beginning of a road on the southern side at either of these +points.</p> + +<p>On the French side there are few important changes. I +am afraid that the very difficult road overhanging the +precipices between Argelès and Larunz has not been made +less difficult. It is well called Mount Ugly. If you care<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xvii"></a>[xvii]</span> +for the experience, it is exciting enough. Nothing, I fear, +could make this road easy without a high parapet at its +worst stretch; and that might be a danger of a new kind, +by giving the driver too much confidence.</p> + +<p>There is some secondary extension of the road beyond +Gavarnie up to the frontier. I see it marked: I have not +myself tried it. You can get up from Tardets nowadays +by a road both to Ste. Engrace and Larrau, and there is +something of a road up the Arette from Aramitz. For the +rest, I believe there is on the French side no change, but +developments were proposed some little time ago, and if +there have been any quite recent changes which any of my +readers can acquaint me with they will oblige me by mentioning +them for a further edition.</p> + +<h4>(3) <span class="smcap">Railroads</span></h4> + +<p>The railroad system is, for the practical purposes of travel, +what it was when I wrote the book so many years ago. But +we are on the eve of very important changes. One cannot +yet travel by train under the Pass of the Somport and so +directly to Saragossa from Toulouse or Bordeaux. But the +tunnel has long been completed, the rails are being laid—indeed, +perhaps at the moment of writing they may be +already in position. I cannot find out from the authorities +when they think the first train will go through. Perhaps they +do not know themselves. It is amusing to hear that the +tunnel is now continually used by foot-passengers, who are +escorted in a gang and who (so I am assured) have their +passports examined in the bowels of the earth, some thousands +of feet below the summit of the main ridge.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xviii"></a>[xviii]</span></p> + +<p>The railway from Ax over the Hospitalet is in a more +backward state—hardly more than surveyed—and I know +not when it is designed to open. On the other hand, the +through railway by the Cerdagne is now virtually completed; +there are only a few hundred yards to be finished; one +still has to go in a vehicle or walk from Puigcerdá station to +Bourg Madame, a matter of a mile or so; but whenever +the authorities choose one can have through traffic through +this very fine piece of scenery round from Perpignan to +Ripoll and Barcelona.</p> + +<p>I append what may be of use, though of course it is a +changeable thing, a note on the main trains for approaching +the Pyrenees as the time-table now stands, with the prices +under the new currency and their equivalents in English +money; this time-table changes of course, and inquiry must +always be made, but the main trains (e.g. the Sud Express) +are much the same year after year.</p> + +<p>The three main lines of approach to the Pyrenees remain +what they were when this book was written, the western +one by Bordeaux, the central one by Toulouse, the eastern +one by Lyons, Nîmes, and Perpignan. Of these the first +is the most rapid; and of the two routes to Bordeaux—the +State Line and the Orleans Line—the latter is the quicker. +The day train leaves at 8.8 in the morning from the Quai +d’Orsay, and gets you to Pau, which is the jumping-off place +for the Western Pyrenees, at 10.45 at night. The distance is +a little over five hundred miles; the cost, with the franc +apparently stabilized at 124 at the time of writing, is just +over 250 francs second class, just over 370 francs first class, +and not quite 165 third class, that is, about £1 7<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> to +£1 8<i>s.</i> English third class from Paris, about £2 2<i>s.</i> second +class, and about £3 2<i>s.</i> first class. If you are making a very<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xix"></a>[xix]</span> +short stay in the Pyrenees it may pay you to take a return +ticket, the duration of which varies on the French lines with +the length of your journey. In this case it would give you +about ten days, counting the day on which you leave Paris. +There are all sorts of arrangements on the French lines for +round trip tickets, family tickets, etc., at reduced prices, +but on these one must get information specially from an +agency or the French tourist office in London or the main +stations in Paris.</p> + +<p>Going first class and paying a supplementary price of +about £1 4<i>s.</i> to £1 5<i>s.</i> and changing at Dax, into an ordinary +first class, one can go from Paris by the Sud Express leaving +the Quai d’Orsay at 10 a.m. and get to Pau at 8.30 in the +evening.</p> + +<p>If you are making for the extreme west of the range at +St. Jean Pied de Port, the same trains get you, the one to +Bayonne, where you must sleep, at 9.45 at night, and the +other, the Sud Express, without changing, at 7.45 p.m.</p> + +<p>Next morning there is a train on at 8, and another at 11.30, +for St. Jean, the first getting in at 9.45, the other at 1.15. +The distance from Bayonne to Paris is about 485 miles, and +the cost therefore, rather less to Pau, being 350 francs +(about) first class, 235 or 236 second class, and 154 third +class.</p> + +<p>The night trains by this line are the 7.10 (which has no +third class), which gets you to Pau at 7.20 the next morning; +there is a luxury train with supplementary payments for +sleeping berth which gets you there no earlier, but has the +advantage of giving you time to dine in Paris. It does not +start till 8.40; however, it costs nearly £2 more than the +first class fare to Pau. Another night train with third +classes in it starts at 9.50, gets you to Bordeaux at 7 in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xx"></a>[xx]</span> +morning (where you have nearly half an hour for coffee) and +to Pau for lunch just after noon.</p> + +<p>The Central Line leading to Toulouse is a very slow one +because it has to go over the central mountains of France. +You start from the Quai d’Orsay also at 10.20 in the morning, +and you do not get to Toulouse till just on 10.30 at night. +The fares are 142 francs third class, 218 second class, and +324 first class.</p> + +<p>The two night trains are, one at 7.50, the other at 9.15—the +latter with sleepers if required; the first gets into +Toulouse at 8.30 the next morning, the other at 9.15.</p> + +<p>From Toulouse you have a choice of three ways: to the +Central Pyrenees, to the Valley of the Ariège and Ax, which +is to the west, and to Narbonne and so to Perpignan on the +Mediterranean at the extreme east of the range.</p> + +<p>The first is a distance of about 100 miles to Tarbes, or +another 12 miles on to Lourdes.</p> + +<p>The second, about 75 miles, but with only one fast train +a day, a morning one, at 9, getting you to Ax at 11.40, in +time for lunch; while the third one is the main through line +with plenty of trains, but a distance of 125 miles. On the +other hand, it has the fastest trains. For instance, you can +leave Toulouse at 9.30 and be in Perpignan by 1.30.</p> + +<p>As for the line by Lyons, it is a long way round and not +to be taken unless you want to see anything on the way. +On the other hand, it has the best service of fast trains. +The best morning train is the 9 o’clock from P.L.M. station +in Paris, which gets you to Avignon at 7.45 in the evening, +and there you must sleep, going on next morning to Perpignan. +You usually have to change at Tarascon. It is the better +part of two days, for save in the case of one train, there is +another change at Narbonne. There is no need to dwell on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxi"></a>[xxi]</span> +this line, as no one would take it for the Pyrenees unless they +were visiting other places on the way, such as Nîmes or +Narbonne. The cost also is about thirty per cent greater +than by the more direct line.</p> + +<h4>(4) <span class="smcap">Inns</span></h4> + +<p>The little I have to say on the changes in the inns since +the first edition of this book was published must be very +tentative, as I have to depend upon reports of others, save +for a certain amount of recent travel at the two ends of the +range. Most of the old recommendations still stand. Gabas +is what it always was, and the Golden Lion of Perpignan as +admirable as it has been for these thirty years and more. +The inn at Burguete and that of Val Carlos have been somewhat +modernized since the new motor-bus service began, +but they are still excellent. An inn I did not mention in the +first edition on the Spanish side of the range, in Catalonia, +is that of Ribas Prattes, standing over the torrent, and one +where I, at least, have always been very comfortable. Since +the opening of the new road and railway over the Sierra del +Cadi it has become unfortunately rather famous, and it is +not cheap; but the people treat you charmingly, and that is +a great thing.</p> + +<p>At Bourg Madame I have quite recently found myself very +comfortable at Salvat. I am told that the principal inn at +Andorra is rather more sophisticated since the motor road +has been built to the town, but is still as good as it was in +the old days. Of course the cooking and everything else +is Catalan; and I am talking from hearsay, as I have not +been to Andorra for many years.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxii"></a>[xxii]</span></p> + +<p>As you stop at Bayonne on your way you will find good +meals at the Grand Brasserie facing the end of the bridge, +while the hotel for sleeping is the Capagorry; at least that +is my favourite, though there is also the rather more expensive +Grand Hotel.</p> + +<p>Nearly all the places on which I have made inquiries seem +to have maintained the old service intact. You still have +the Mur in Jaca, and the more primitive but hospitable inn +of Canfranc; and the little inn at Urdos, where I stopped +some years ago, is passable enough, though I still recommend +as a base the Hotel de la Poste lower down the valley at +Bédous. By the way, if you do stop at Urdos, beware of +the drinking water which for some reason is not very safe—or +was not.</p> + +<p>Before leaving these very brief notes I should like to +emphasize again for travellers the change in prices. On the +whole, they are lower, reckoning the real purchasing value of +money, than they were in the old days.</p> + +<p>Thus, the place I know best, and where I have stopped +most often, is charging now as a regular <i>pension</i> per day in +francs including wine, and counting in francs, six times +what it charged before the war. Now the nominal value of +the franc in gold is only a fifth of what it was before the war, +and the purchasing power of gold is very nearly half, so a +multiple of six means that you are getting your board and +lodging really cheaper than you did in 1913; but I know it is +difficult to persuade people of this, just as it is difficult to +persuade people in England that railway fares and postage +at home are really less than they were before the war. At +any rate, those who may have had experience of the Pyrenees +before the war may roughly multiply by six for the present +price, at least in modest places; and in some cases by less.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxiii"></a>[xxiii]</span> +Of course in the very large hotels in places like Bagnères you +may be charged anything. But they are places which I +never go to and on which I therefore can give no advice.</p> + +<p>It remains, by the way, as true as ever that on the French +side of the range you must always ask the price of your room +before taking it, and on the Spanish side be quite clear as to +whether the price quoted is for the room and all the day’s +meals including wine (as is the national custom) or for only +a part. On both sides of the frontier service is usually +included in the bill nowadays at 10 per cent on the total, and +it is foolish to pay anything more.</p> + +<h4>(5) <span class="smcap">Maps</span></h4> + +<p>The war interfered with map-making in France so much +that recovery is only beginning, and the revision of the main +surveys is still in arrears. What I have said, however, in +this book still stands for the most part.</p> + +<p>I append a list of the maps recommended, with their prices, +to be obtained from Messrs Sifton, Praed & Co., The Map +House, 67, St. James’s Street, S.W. 1.</p> + +<p>With regard to this list I would make the following +comment:</p> + +<p>(1) This is the standard French ordnance map, the one +most necessary for the pedestrian, especially if he is dealing +only with a limited area.</p> + +<p>(2) This is the map for motoring and road work.</p> + +<p>(3) This is the map for climbers, but unfortunately the +first three sheets have been allowed to go out of print. I +hear that there is some hope of a reprint being made, and +on my next visit to the publishers I will urge them to advance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxiv"></a>[xxiv]</span> +it. The map was made years ago for Messrs. Barrere, and +is very useful on account of its numerous contours.</p> + +<p>(4) is to be reckoned with (3).</p> + +<p>(5) This is the general map for a conspectus of the whole +range.</p> + +<p>(6) I have not seen this map, but it can be obtained from +the firm mentioned above. It is I believe detailed and +exceedingly useful, but as yet only applies to this small +section of the mountain.</p> + +<p>(7) The Michelin map is a motoring map, but contains a +great deal of useful information, and is very accurate as to +motoring roads.</p> + +<p>(8) The Taride is a much rougher map, with general +indications; not so accurate as the Michelin, but useful for +long tours.</p> + +<p>With this said I append the list.</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p class="hanging">(1) 1/100,000 France, covering the Pyrenees in 27 sheets. +Price 1<i>s.</i> per sheet unmounted; mounted on cloth +to fold for the pocket, 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> per sheet.</p> + +<p class="hanging">(2) 1/200,000 France. 7 sheets. Price, 2<i>s.</i> each unmounted; +mounted on cloth to fold, 4<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> each. +Sheet 69 mounted on cloth to fold, 4<i>s.</i></p> + +<p class="hanging">(3) Schrader’s map of the Pyrenees Centrales par F. +Schrader. Sheets 4, 5, 6 only available. The three +northern sheets 1, 2, 3 are out of print.</p> + +<p class="hanging">(4) Schrader’s map “Massif de Gavarnie et du Mont +Perdu,” Scale 1/2000. Paper, folded in cover. Price, +2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p class="hanging">(5) Touring Club de France. Scale 1/400,000. Two +sheets cover the whole of the Pyrenees. Mounted on +cloth to fold for the pocket, 5<i>s.</i> each.</p> + +<p class="hanging">(6) Mapa Militar de Espana. Sheet 86 and part of 62.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxv"></a>[xxv]</span> +Seo de Urgel. This is the only sheet published so far +of the Pyrenees. Price, 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> unmounted; mounted +on cloth to fold, 4<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p class="hanging">(7) Carte Routière Michelin. Scale 1/200,000. Two +sheets cover the whole of the Pyrenees on the French +side. Mounted to fold, 4<i>s.</i> each.</p> + +<p class="hanging">(8) Taride Road Maps. Scale 4 miles to 1 inch. Two +sheets cover the whole of the Pyrenees. Paper, folded +in cover, 2<i>s.</i> each. Mounted on cloth to fold, 5<i>s.</i> each.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxvi"></a>[xxvi]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td class="tdr smaller">CHAP.</td> + <td colspan="2"></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">I.</td> + <td colspan="2">THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE PYRENEES</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#I">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">II.</td> + <td colspan="2">THE POLITICAL CHARACTER OF THE PYRENEES</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#II">36</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">III.</td> + <td colspan="2">MAPS</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#III">59</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">IV.</td> + <td colspan="2">THE ROAD SYSTEM OF THE PYRENEES</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#IV">79</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">V.</td> + <td colspan="2">TRAVEL ON FOOT IN THE PYRENEES</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#V">106</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VI.</td> + <td colspan="2">THE SEPARATE DISTRICTS OF THE PYRENEES</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI">144</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdr">i.</td> + <td>The Basque Valleys</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI_I">145</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdr">ii.</td> + <td>The Four Valleys (Béarn and Aragon)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI_II">155</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdr">iii.</td> + <td>Sobrarbe</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI_III">167</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdr">iv.</td> + <td>The Tarbes Valleys and Luchon</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI_IV">179</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdr">v.</td> + <td>Andorra and the Catalan Valleys</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI_V">187</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdr">vi.</td> + <td>Cerdagne</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI_VI">199</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdr">vii.</td> + <td>The Tet and Ariège</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI_VII">204</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdr">viii.</td> + <td>The Canigou</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI_VIII">210</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VII.</td> + <td colspan="2">INNS OF THE PYRENEES</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VII">217</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VIII.</td> + <td colspan="2">THE APPROACHES TO THE PYRENEES</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VIII">234</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td colspan="2">INDEX</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#INDEX">239</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxvii"></a>[xxvii]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_MAPS">LIST OF MAPS</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">FACING PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>GENERAL SKETCH MAP OF THE PYRENEES</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map01">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE BASQUE VALLEYS</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map02">154</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE FOUR VALLEYS</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map03">166</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE PASSAGE OVER THE COL DE LA CRUZ AND THE COL DE GISTAIN</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map04">174</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE SOBRARBE</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map05">178</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE TARBES VALLEYS AND LUCHON</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map06">186</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE CATALAN VALLEYS AND ANDORRA</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map07">198</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE CERDAGNE</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map08">202</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE ARIÈGE AND TET VALLEYS</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map09">208</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>THE CANIGOU</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map10">216</a></td> + </tr> + <tr class="pad-top"> + <td>THE GATE OF THE ROUSSILLON</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="map01" style="max-width: 87.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map01.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>GENERAL SKETCH MAP OF THE PYRENEES</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p> + +<h1>THE PYRENEES</h1> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="I">I<br> +<span class="smaller">THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE PYRENEES</span></h2> + +</div> + +<figure class="figleft illowp100" id="illus01" style="max-width: 25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus01.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>To use for travel or for pleasure +a great mountain system, the +first thing necessary is to understand +its structure and its plan; to this +understanding must next be added an +understanding of its appearance, climate, soil, and, as it +were, habits, all of which lend it a character peculiar to itself.</p> + +<p>These two approaches to the comprehension of a mountain +system may be called the approaches to its physical nature; +and when one has the elements of that nature clearly seized, +one is the better able to comprehend the human incidents +attached to it.</p> + +<p>From an appreciation of this physical basis one must next +proceed to a general view of the history of the district—if it +has a history—and of the modern political character resulting +from it. At the root of this will be found the original groups +or communities which have remained unchanged in Western +Europe throughout all recorded time. These groups are sometimes +distinguishable by language, more often by character. +Changes of philosophy profoundly affect them; changes of +economic circumstance, though affecting them far less, do +something to render the problem of their continuity complex: +but upon an acquaintance with the living men concerned, +it is always possible to distinguish where the boundaries of a +country-side are set; and the permanence of such limits in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span> +European life is the chief lesson a deep knowledge of any +district conveys.</p> + +<p>The recorded history of the inhabitants lends to these hills +their only full meaning for the human being that visits them +to-day; nor does anyone know, nor half know, any country-side +of Europe unless he possesses not only its physical appearance +and its present habitation, but the elements of its past.</p> + +<p>These things established, one can turn to the details of +travel and explain the communications, the difficulties, and the +opportunities attaching to various lines of travel. In the case +of a mountain range, the greater part of this last will, of course, +for modern Englishmen, consist in some account of wilder +travel upon foot, and the sense of exploration and of discovery +which the district affords.</p> + +<p>Such are the lines to be followed in this book, and, first, I +will begin by laying down the plan and contours of the +Pyrenees.</p> + +<p class="tb">The first impression reached by modern and educated men +when they consider a mountain system is one over-simple. +This over-simplicity is the necessary result of our present +forms of elementary education, and has been well put by some +financial vulgarian or other (with the intention of praise) +when he called it “Thinking in Maps,” or, “Thinking Imperially”; +for the maps in a man’s head when he first approaches +a new range are the maps of the schoolroom.</p> + +<p>Thus one sees the Sierra Nevada in California as one line, +the Cascade Range as another parallel to it. The Alps and +the Himalayas alike arrange themselves into simple curves, +arcs of a circle with a great river for the cord. The Atlas is a +straight line cutting off the northern projection of Africa, the +Apennines are a straight line running down the centre of Italy. +Such are the first geographic elements present in the mind.</p> + +<p>The next impression, however, the impression gathered in +actual travel, or in a detailed study, is one of mere confusion, +a confusion the more hopeless on account of the false simplicity +of the original premise. Deductions from that premise are +perpetually at variance with the observed facts of travel or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span> +of study, the exceptions become so numerous as to swamp the +rule, and an original misconception upon the main character +of the chain prevents a new and more accurate synthesis of +its general aspect. Thus, the conception of the Cascade Range +upon the Pacific Coast of the United States as parallel and +separate from the Sierras, confuses one’s view of all the district +round Shasta, and of all the watersheds south of the Mohave +where the two systems merge; or again, one who has only +thought of the Alps as a mere arc of a circle misconceives, +and is bewildered by the nature, the appearance, and the +whole history of the great re-entrant angles of the Val +d’Aosta with its Gallic influences; the anomaly of the Adige +Valley will not permit him to explain its political fortunes, +and the outlying arms which have preserved the independence +of Swiss institutions upon the southern slope will not fall into +his view of the mountains.</p> + +<p>This confusion, I say, is not due so much to the multitude +of detail as to the permanent effect of an original strong and +over-simple conception remaining in the mind as it continues +to accumulate increasing but sporadic knowledge of a particular +district; and it is a confusion in which those who +have formed such an erroneous conception commonly remain.</p> + +<p>In order to avoid such confusion and to allow one’s increasing +knowledge a frame wherein to fit, it is essential to grasp +in one scheme the few elementary lines which underlie a +mountain system, and such a scheme will be a trifle more complex +than the too simple scheme usually presented, but once +one has it one can appreciate the place of every irregularity +in the structure of the whole chain of hills.</p> + +<p>In the case of the Pyrenees the common error of too great +simplicity may be easily stated. These mountains are +regarded as a wall separating France from Spain, and running +direct from sea to sea. Such an aspect of the range will more +and more confuse the traveller and reader the more he studies +the actual shape of the valleys. Another picture should +occupy the mind, and it will presently be seen that with this +picture permanently fixed as a framework for the whole +system, an increased knowledge of its details does but expand<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span> +the sense of unity originally conveyed. The Pyrenees must +not be regarded as a sharp heaped ridge forming a single +watershed between the plains of Gaul and those of Northern +Spain, and running east and west from the Atlantic to the +Mediterranean. They form a system, the watershed of which +does not exactly stretch from one sea to the other. The axis +of it does not consist of one line; the general direction is not +due east. The axis of the Pyrenean chain is built up of two +main lines, of approximately equal length: the one running +south of east from a point at some distance from the Atlantic, +the other north of west from a point right on the shores of the +Mediterranean. These two lines do not meet. They miss by +over eight miles, and the gap between them is joined by a low +saddle.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan A.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The first of these lines starts from a point (Mount Urtioga) +25 miles south of the corner made by the Bay of Biscay at +Irun, and some 15 miles west of its meridian; it runs +about 9° 15′ south of east to the peak called Sabouredo, the +last of the Maladetta group, the direct distance from which to +Mount Urtioga is precisely 200 kilometres, or 124 miles. The +second runs from Cape Cerberus on the Mediterranean to a +peak called the Pic-de-l’homme, which stands a trifle over 12 +kilometres, or 7¾ miles, north of the Sabouredo; its direction +is 9° 25′ north of west, and the total length of this second line +is just over 190 kilometres, or 117 miles.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan B.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span></p> + +<p>The simplest scheme, then, in which we can regard the +Pyrenees, is as a system of not quite parallel lines of equal +length, running one towards the other, but missing by not +quite 8 miles; the gap or “fault” joined by a zigzag saddle +on the watershed. The westernmost of these lines splits into +several branches before it reaches the Atlantic, so that the +true western end of the chain lies well to the south and east +of that ocean (at Mount Urtioga); the other starts from, and +forms a projection in, the Mediterranean. The full distance +as the crow flies from Mount Urtioga to Cape Cerberus upon +the Mediterranean is 390 kilometres, that is 241 miles. And +there is but 10 kilometres, or 6½ miles, difference in length +between the two halves of the chain.</p> + +<p>If <span class="allsmcap">U</span> be the point called Mount Urtioga, <span class="allsmcap">S</span> the Sabouredo, +<span class="allsmcap">L</span> the Pic-de-l’homme, and <span class="allsmcap">C</span> Cape Cerberus, these two lines +and the gap between them will lie precisely as in this plan.</p> + +<p>With this main guide by which to judge the structure of +the chain, all details will be found to fit in, and the two first +variations which we must superimpose upon so general a view, +are to be found in the “step” or “corner” formed by the +watershed round the Pic d’Anie. The southward turn of +the range is here not gradual but sharp, and the Somport, +the pass at the head of the Val d’Aspe, lies almost a day’s going +below the Port St. Engrace, which is the Pass near the Pic +d’Anie. Next, one should note the two re-entrant angles, +one to the north of the chain, one to the south, which distinguish +the Spanish valley of the Gallego and the French valley +of the Gave de Pau respectively. These features modify the +simplicity of the first or western branch of the chain; one +exceptional feature only modifies the second or Eastern +branch, and this is the deep re-entrant wedge of the Ariège +valley upon the French side. We may therefore regard the +elements of the watershed somewhat according to the sketch +plan B on the preceding page.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-c" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-c.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan C.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span></p> + +<p>The details of the watershed when they are given in full are +of course indefinitely more numerous and complicated, and +it may be of advantage for those who would understand the +structure of the Pyrenees to glance also at the plan opposite +where the dotted line represents the exact trace of the watershed, +the dark lines the simple structure described above.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="plan-d" style="max-width: 32.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-d.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan D.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The watershed then should be regarded as the chief feature +in the range, and as the backbone of the whole system. +Geologically, it is not the foundation of the range. Geologically, +the range was piled up by the junction of a number of +short separate ranges, each of which ran with a sharper south-eastern +dip (about 30°) than does the present long line of +saddles which has joined them and forms the existing +watershed, and probably the process of the formation of +the Pyrenees was upon the model sketched in the following +diagram.</p> + +<p>But for the purpose of understanding the Pyrenees as they +now are, it is the existing watershed which we must consider, +and that runs as I have said.</p> + +<p>Next, the rule should be laid down that the Pyrenees must +be separately considered on their northern and upon their +southern slopes. It will be seen later that the physical and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> +historical contrast between the two sides of the mountains +is sometimes acute and sometimes slight, but the contrast +between the general contour upon either side is such as to +make it impossible to unite both in one similar system.</p> + +<p>The Northern slope of the Pyrenees is narrow and precipitous. +The plains are for the greater part of its length clearly +separated from the mountains; the easy country in some +places (at St. Girons, for instance, and in the Flats between +Lourdes and Tarbes) is not 20 miles as the crow flies from the +highest peaks.</p> + +<p>On the Spanish side, on the contrary, the mountainous +district will run from two to three times that distance. Its +extreme width between the open country at the foot of the +Sierra Monsech and the Salau Pass is over 60 miles, and it is +nowhere less than two days’ good journey on foot from the +summits to the plains.</p> + +<p>This differentiation between the northern and the southern +slopes is not merely one of width, it is due to profound differences +in the contours which make the Spanish side of the +system a different type of mountain group from the French. +For, on the French side the Pyrenees consist in a series of +great ribs or buttresses running up from the plains perpendicularly +to the main heights of the range, and it is between these +ribs or buttresses that the separate and highly distinct valleys +which are the characteristic habitations of the French Basques +and Béarnais lie. On the Spanish side the main structure is +in folds <i>parallel</i> to the watershed; the lateral valleys descending +from the watershed run southward for but a very short +distance, they come, within a few miles, upon high east-and-west +ridges which sometimes rival the main range itself in +height and which succeed each other like waves down to the +plains of the Ebro. The contrast in structure north and south +of the watershed may be expressed in the formula of this +plan. A man looking at the Pyrenees from the French towns +at their base sees in one complete view a belt of steep rising +slopes, and a long fairly even line of summits against the sky. +A man looking at the range from the Spanish plains can only +in a few rare places so much as catch sight of the main range.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> +In far the greater number of such views he will have before +him a high ridge which masques the country beyond. If, +then, the reader or the traveller regards the French slope as +being essentially a series of profound valleys parallel to each +other and running north and south, he will have grasped the +main aspect of this side of the range. If he will regard the +Spanish slope as a series of parallel outliers which begin quite +close to the watershed, and which, though falling at last into +the plains of the Ebro, are, even the most southern of them, of +considerable height, he will have grasped the structure of the +Pyrenees upon the side which looks towards the sun.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp90" id="plan-e" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-e.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan E.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>To these two main aspects the reader must again admit +considerable modifications, the first of which concerns the +French side.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-f" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-f.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan F.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span></p> + +<p>This Northern slope and its valleys, of which the sketch +map over page indicates the general arrangement, may be +divided into two sections: the first a western section, the +second an eastern one, and these two are separated at <span class="allsmcap">A-B</span> by +a division roughly corresponding to the “fault” between the +two axes, which, as we have seen, determine the lie of the +range.</p> + +<p>From the first, or western axis, descend with a regular parallelism, +eight valleys. Each valley bifurcates in its higher +part into two main ravines, and a whole system of minor +streams, spread over an indefinite number of tortuous dales +and gullies, attach to each valley.</p> + +<p>There is a mark or limit for each of these western French +valleys, which is the spot where it debouches upon the open +country. Thus the Gave d’Ossau falls into the Gave d’Aspe +at Oloron; nevertheless the two valleys must be regarded as +separate, because the meeting of the two streams takes place +in the open plain. On the other hand the valley of Baigorry, +and the neighbouring valley of St. Jean, though containing +two large separate streams, must be treated as one system, +because these streams meet at Eyharee near Ossés, and the +open plain is not reached before a point some miles further +down beyond Canbo.</p> + +<p>The test, though it may sound arbitrary upon paper, is +quite easily appreciated in the landscape, and the separate +valleys are more clearly marked, perhaps, than those of any +other European mountain chain.</p> + +<p>These eight valleys (<a href="#plan-g">see plan G over page</a>), going from west +to east, are first that of the Nive (the bifurcations of which +give St. Jean and the Baigorry), next that of the Gave-de-Mauléon +(Larrau and Ste. Engrace), and both of these are +Basque; next comes the valley of the Gave d’Aspe (with the +bifurcation of Lourdios and Urdos), up which went the main +Roman road into Spain and which is the first of the Béarnese +valleys; next is the Val d’Ossau (with the bifurcation of +Gabas and the lac d’Arrius), next the valley of the Gave de +Pau (with the bifurcations of Cauterets and Gavarnie), next +the valley of Bigorre, a short valley bifurcating in two minor +streams at its head. Next, or seventh, comes the Val d’Aure, +with Vielle upon its western bifurcation and Bordères upon +its eastern; and lastly the bifurcated valley of the Garonne, +whose level and deep floor comes nearest of all to the main +chain, and holds on the west Luchon, on a branch called the +Pique, on the east Viella in the Val d’Aran.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp37" id="plan-g" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-g.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan G.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-h" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-h.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan H.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Once past this point, the structure of the hills along the +eastern run of the broken Pyrenean axis changes. The +mountains here are penetrated by only two valleys, but each +is much longer and more important than any of the eight just +mentioned, and these two great valleys run, not parallel to +each other, nor north and south as do the eight western ones, +but at a steep slant: the one (that of the Ariège) goes westward, +and the other (that of the Tet) eastward. Save for +these two main valleys no regular features can be discovered +in the eastern portion; all is here a labyrinth of dividing and +subdividing lateral ridges, and the only thing giving unity to +the group is this system of two great trenches which run up +towards each other, the one from the Plain of Toulouse, the +other from that of Perpignan, to meet on the high land of the +Carlitte group. Strictly speaking, the western valley is not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> +wholly that of the Ariège, but those of the Ariège and Oriège +combined, and it is further remarkable that no regular passage +exists from the one depression to the other, but by a curious +topographical accident, which will be described later in the +book, the crossing from the Ariège to the Tet has to be made +by going over on to the south side of the range, and then back +again on to the north side.</p> + +<p>The importance of these two main valleys upon the eastern +half of the northern slope of the Pyrenees is sufficiently evident +from the historical fact that each determines a great historical +district: the one, that of the Ariège, was the country of <i>Foix</i>, +the other, that of the Tet, was the <i>Rousillon</i>. And while the +eight small western valleys running parallel to each other +separate local customs and dialect alone, the ridge of the +Ariège and the Tet may almost be said to have separated two +nationalities, and owed ultimate allegiance for a thousand +years, the one to a Gallic, the other to an Iberian lord.</p> + +<p>Beyond the valley of the Tet and eastward of the Canigou +runs the little fag end of the range, which falls into the sea +at Cape Cerberus, and is called the “Alberes.” Here there is +but little distinction between the northern and the southern +side, the general shape of a sharp ridge is maintained throughout, +but the height lowers more and more as the sea is +approached. These hills are everywhere passable; the +ancient road into Spain which crosses them, should count, +geographically and historically, rather as a road crossing +round the Pyrenees at their sea end, than as a road crossing +the chain.</p> + +<p class="tb">A Pyrenean valley upon the French side always presents +the same main characteristic, and this is true not only of the +main valleys, but of the innumerable lateral valleys which +ramify from the main valleys in all directions.</p> + +<p>The characteristic of these French Pyrenean valleys is that +they are sharply divided by very narrow gorges into two or +more level basins. These level basins in the smaller valleys +and on the high levels where there is pasturage and no habitation +are called “Jasses”; the large and low ones are called<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> +“Plains” or “Plans”; but they are the same in their essential +feature, which is a level floor more or less wide, bounded by +the steep hills upon either side, and ending and beginning with +a rocky gate through which the valley stream cascades. The +whole formation suggests the former existence of great and +small lakes, which burst their way through the gorges at some +remote time (as in plan I below).</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-i" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-i.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan I.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>These gorges are very rarely of any length, a point in which +the Pyrenees differ from the Alps. Here and there, especially +in the limestone formations, you do get long and difficult +passages. One, the Cacouette in the Western Pyrenees, in +the upper waters of the Gave-de-Mauléon, is not only very profound +but absolutely impassable, like the Black Cañon of +Colorado, but it does not lead from one part of a valley to +another. It occupies the whole of the upper valley; and in +general, you will not find a Pyrenean stream running, as do the +Alpine streams, for some miles between precipices.</p> + +<p>Each main valley has a clearly marked mouth where it +debouches upon the plain; by this I do not mean that perfectly +flat land comes up to and meets the hills in every case; +on the contrary, at the mouth of most of these valleys are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> +moraines left by old glaciers, but I mean that the character +and aspect of the hills visibly and immediately changes, and +that each of the valleys has a distinct final “gate” where it +meets the lowlands, just as a river will meet the sea at a definite +mouth. Now each of these openings has its characteristic +town. Mauléon, for instance, is at the mouth of the last Basque +valley, Oloron at the mouth of the Val d’Aspe, Lourdes at the +mouth of the valley of Argelès, etc.</p> + +<p>Further, these towns at the mouths of the valleys have +invariably chosen for their site, whether they be prehistoric +or mediæval, some rock on which to build a citadel; and in +every case a castle is still to be found holding that rock. +Lourdes, Foix, Mauléon are excellent examples of this.</p> + +<p>Higher up the valley, the first plain above the mouth will, +as a rule, contain the first mountain town. Thus Argelès +lies above Lourdes, Bédous and Accous above Oloron, Laruns +in the first flat of the Val d’Ossau, etc.</p> + +<p>According to the length of the valley and the number and +size of the Jasses, there may be one or more such towns +enclosed by the mountain sides; thus in the valley of Lourdes +we have Argelès, and above it Luz; in the valley of Soule we +have Tardets above Mauléon, and higher still we have Licq. +But all the valleys, whether they contain one or more of these +upland towns, have, just under the last watershed, a hamlet or +village usually giving its name to the Port or Col—that is +<i>the Pass into Spain</i>—above it, and the reason of this is +evident enough; habitations were necessary as a place of +departure and arrival for the crossing of the mountains. Of +such are Gavarnie, Urdos, Morens, and the rest. These high +villages have least history, least wealth, and until recently +had the worst communications. For much the greater part +of the year they are lost in snow, and there was an interval +between the making of the great roads and the beginning of +modern tourist travel when they were in peril of destruction. +The new great roads drew away wealth and visitors from all +but a very few, and but for the beginning of modern mountaineering +they had hopelessly decayed. Even so famous +a place as Gavarnie, the best known of all the valley heads,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> +was dying in the middle of the century. There are days now +when it is at the other extreme: fine days in August when, for +the crowd of rich people, you might be at Tring or at some +reception of the late Whittaker Wright’s. Even to-day, one +or two of them, however clean or kindly, are odd in the way +of poverty. I have known one where they had no butter +and never had had any butter, and another where I was +charged 8<i>d.</i> instead of 5<i>d.</i> for a bed because it was the season.</p> + +<p>The typical Spanish valley differs, in the centre of the Chain +at least, from the typical French valley. With the exception +of Andorra (which reminds one in all features of the French +side; for it has the same enclosed plain, the same steps and +rocky gorges between, the same Jasses, and the same arrangement +of towns and villages) the greater part of the valleys, +whether Catalan or Aragonese, are not only broader and their +streams larger than on the French side, but their arrangement +also is different, most of them lack wide pasturages, nearly all +of them lack enclosed plains, and there has been no motive +to penetrate them since the building of the new roads, for +travel upon this road is rare. The Spanish valley, therefore, +often many days’ walking in length, never direct, and +forming a sort of little province to itself, will have towns and +villages scattered in it, haphazard and thinly. Very often +a considerable town will be found at the very end of the +valley, as Esterri in that of the Noguera Pallaresa, or Venasque +in that of the Esera. The lateral communications from one +Spanish valley to the next are usually more difficult than those +between the French valleys; for many months they are +impossible, and there is no such general arrangement of towns +on the plain holding the approaches to the valleys as in France, +for the reason that the whole plan of the mountains on the +Spanish side is far more troubled and irregular.</p> + +<p>Thus the first town of the Aragon is Jaca; but Jaca is +right in the mountains, and nothing at the outlet of the hills +50 or 60 miles down the valley makes a head town for Jaca. +Jaca is a bishopric on its own. On the Gallego there is nothing +but a succession of villages of which Sallent right up at the +head of the valley is among the largest: it is almost a little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> +town and so is Biescas close by. The Cinca and the Esera +have indeed a town upon the plains at Barbastro, but the +Noguera Ribagorzana has none, nor has its sister the Noguera +Pallaresa, while the Segre has its bishopric and chief town +right up in the highest hills at Urgel, and there is nothing to +compare with that town until you get to Balaguer.</p> + +<p class="tb">The southern side of the watershed differs greatly in general +structure from the northern, and must be separately recorded.</p> + +<p>There are indeed certain accidental similarities. The +enclosed valley of Andorra to the south recalls the enclosed +valley of Bédous or Accous to the north, and the very high +first miles of the torrents, just under the main range, do not +differ much whether they are found on the north or on the +south side of the mountain. But the general plan and contour +of the range presents a great contrast on either side. The +main feature of the southern slope is, as I have said, a series +of parallel ranges pushing out like ramparts in front of the +main heights. If you follow a French valley (on the western +part of the Pyrenees at least) you will find it running fairly +north and south to the point where it debouches upon the +plain some 20, or 25 miles at most, from the watershed.</p> + +<p>A Spanish valley will at first appear to have the same +character, but just when you think you are in sight of the +plains (for instance, just after leaving Canfranc upon the banks +of the Upper Aragon) you see—beyond the first lines of flat +country, and barring the view like a great wall—another high +range: in this case the Sierra de la Peña, the ridge of rock +which takes its name from the “Peña-de-Oroel,” a mountain +with its eastern end just above Jaca. Beyond this again you +have the San Domingo ridge, and to the east of it, another +running also east and west, the Sierra de Guara.</p> + +<p>Pamplona again is situated at the mouth of a true Pyrenean +valley (that of the Arga), not very different from the valleys +to the north. It stands also on a plain, but immediately in +front of it runs another range of hills, and if you climb these, +you find yet another, strictly parallel and straight, standing +before you and masking the approach to the Ebro. This<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> +formation in parallel outliers continues as far east as the +Segre valley, that is for full three-quarters of the length of the +Spanish Pyrenees, and in a sense it continues even further +east than the river Segre; for the Sierra del Cadi, though it +joins on to the main ridge at one point, is essentially an outlier +in slope and formation. This parallel formation sometimes +comes quite close to the central range, as, for instance, in the +Colorado peaks close to Sallent and Panticosa, and the long +ridge to the south of Vielsa and El Plan. Indeed the +characteristics of Sobrarbe, as this country-side is called, +consist in these long parallel ridges.</p> + +<p>One result of this formation is, as I have said above, that +the river valleys do not run straight, as they do to the north +of the range, but are thrust round at right angles when they +come up against these ridges. Sometimes they will eat their +way through a ridge, as do the two Nogueras, and the Arga +itself south of Pamplona; but the greater part of the rivers +on the Spanish side suffer the diversion of which I speak, and +none more than the river Aragon, which gives its name to the +whole central kingdom; for the Aragon, after having run +south and straight for a few miles, like any northern river, +suddenly turns westward, and runs under the foot to Sierra +de la Peña for two days’ march. According to its first direction, +it should fall into the Ebro somewhere near Saragossa; +as a fact it does not come in until far above Tudela.</p> + +<p>Another result of the formation is that the mountain +tangle stretches much further on the Spanish side than it +does upon the French. If you stand upon the Pass of Salau +where the French have made, and the Spanish are making, +a high road, you have before you to the north, at a distance of +less than 10 miles, the railway and a fairly open valley. +Fifteen miles at the most, as the crow flies, you have the main +line and the true lowlands at St. Girons. But if you turn and +look out in the opposite direction over the valley of Esterri +and the higher Noguera Pallaresa, you are looking over 60 +miles of mountain land. From the high ridge, which is your +standpoint, to the summit of El-Monsech, which is the final +rampart of the hills beyond the plains of Lerida, is more<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> +than 50 miles, and the slopes of that rampart take you nearly +another 10.</p> + +<p>A further consequence of this formation is that communications +are very difficult to the south of the Pyrenees. The +traveller naturally ascribes the lack of communications to +the character of Spanish government. It is not wholly due to +a moral, but partly to a material cause. The main Spanish +railway from Saragossa to Barcelona may be compared to the +main French railway from Toulouse to Bayonne, but the +Spanish side everywhere suffers from its great wide stretch +of wild mountain land. Toulouse itself is little more than +50 miles from the crest of the mountains. Saragossa is half +as much again. The Spanish Pyrenees push out civilization, +as it were, far from them. Lerida, a large town of the plains, +is quite 60 miles from the watershed in a straight line. Pau +or Tarbes are less than 30. The difficulty and expense +with which the civilization of the plains, and the things belonging +to it, must reach the remote upper Spanish valleys largely +account for the curiously high degree of their isolation from the +world. Many thousands of men are born and die in those high +valleys, without ever seeing a wheeled vehicle, and without +knowing the gravest news of the outer world for two or three +days after the towns have known it.</p> + +<p>It is not easy in such a system to establish general divisions. +We saw that this was simple enough upon the French side: +eight main valleys to the west of the “fault,” and two large +sloping ones on the eastern limb. In the Spanish Pyrenees, +the nearest thing one can get to a classification is <i>first</i> to group +together the Basque valleys of Navarre, the streams of which +all flow down to meet at last near Lumbier and fall into the +Aragon a few miles further south. <i>Next</i> to take the group of +valleys along the mouths of which stands the great Sierra de +la Peña, of which the chief is the ravine of the Upper Aragon. +These dales, which have at their extremities the huge masses +of the Garganta and the Pic d’Anie, form the original stuff +of Aragon. These few square miles were the seat from whence +that race proceeded which fought its way down to the Ebro, +and to the sources of the Tagus, and which can claim the Cid<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> +Campeador for its historic type. <i>Next</i> comes the group of +valleys beginning with the Gallego and ending with that of +Venasque, which forms the eastern limb of Aragon, and has +borne for many centuries the title of “Sobrarbe.” <i>Next</i> to +consider the two Nogueras as the Western, the Cerdagne and +Andorra as the Eastern Catalonian land.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-j" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-j.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan J.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It should be noted that the fine tenacity of Spain in general, +and of these hills in particular, has preserved with exactitude +the ancient and natural divisions of the land. The long +unbroken ridge which encloses the Basque valleys is also the +frontier of Navarre. The unity of Aragon survives in the +present administrative division of Jaca. The eastern valleys +are still called the “Sobrarbe,” and the “fault,” or break +between the two main lines of the Pyrenees, still forms an +historical and racial break to the South as to the North of the +chain. Beyond it eastward begins the Catalan language, and +the next group to consider are the great Catalan valleys of the +two Nogueras and of the Segre. The two Nogueras ultimately +fall into the Segre, but in the mountain regions the three form +three large parallel valleys, each with a character and nourishment +of its own and all Catalan. Of these three, the Segre +is the most striking; its upper waters are the centre of the +flat valley of the Cerdagne, the only natural passage from the +North into Spain, and one of its earliest tributaries nourishes +the Republic of Andorra.</p> + +<p>East of the Segre valley, and of the Sierra del Cadi which +bounds it, no classification is possible. It is a labyrinth of +little valleys. A flat welter of hills running down everywhere +to the sea, and narrowing at the extreme end into Cape +Cerberus: these last crests, as I have said, take the name of +“Alberes.”</p> + +<p>This contrast in structure between the northern and the +southern side of the range runs through many other aspects of +the hills beyond structure alone. We have seen that it affects +the type of civilization, leaving the deep but short French +valleys far more open to the culture and influences of the +plains than were the Spanish just over the watershed. There +is much more.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span></p> + +<p>The fall of the light is in itself a contrast. The slopes of the +Spanish mountains, and especially of the high mountains, +look right at the blazing sun. They are more bare of wood, +much, than are the French slopes. They are more burnt. +Water is less plentiful. Insects are more numerous, and there +is less cultivation; but one cannot say that there is, as a rule, +a scantier population. Small villages and hamlets are rarer +in the remote gorges, but small towns a little lower down are +common, and apart from the population economically dependent +upon summer tourists in France, it might be doubted +whether the Spanish side were not as well garnished as the +French; one might venture to imagine that in the Dark, and +early Middle, Ages, when the full effect of the natural condition +of the mountains could be felt, the population of either +side was sensibly the same.</p> + +<p>The highest peaks are upon the Spanish side, but it does not +show splendid isolated masses of rock like the two Pics-du-Midi, +or lonely masses like the Canigou. On the other hand, +the general character of the rocks is more savage and more +fantastic, and it is upon the south side of the range that one +most feels creeping over one that sentiment of unreality or of +a spell, which so many travellers in the Pyrenees have been +curious to note. The local names express it upon every side. +There are “The Mouth of Hell,” “The Accursed Mountain,” +“The Lost Mountain,” “The Peak of Hell,” “The Enchanted +Hills” or “Encantados,” and hundreds of other legendary +titles that express, as well as do the mountain tunes, the sense +of an unquiet mystery.</p> + +<p class="tb">The Spanish side is again remarkable for true rivers running +in considerable valleys everywhere east of Navarre. Though +the rainfall is less upon the southern side than upon the +northern, yet, because the catchment areas are broader, the +streams running at the bottom of the Spanish valleys are +larger and more important. A glance at the map will show +upon the French side a whole series of parallel river valleys +running down from the summit into the plains to join the +Adour or the Gironde. Armagnac and Béarn are crowded<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> +with them. A man going eastward from Bayonne to Pau, +from Pau to Tarbes, from Tarbes to Toulouse, will cross more +than forty streams all spreading out like a fan from the central +axis of the Lannemezan Plain; a man going eastward below +the Spanish foot hills from Melida, let us say through Huesca +to Lerida, will find but half a dozen of such water crossings. +Again, you have between the Soule and the Labourd, between +the Val d’Aspe and the Val d’Ossau, between the Val d’Aure +and the Garonne, distances of 8, 10, or at the most 12 miles, +but the distance between neighbouring Spanish valleys (if +we except the near approach of the Gallego and the Aragon), +is always much greater. Between the Noguera and the Segre, +for instance, there is at the nearest point, 20 miles; between +the two Nogueras, another 20; between the last of these two +rivers and the Esera, quite 20 more. The whole Spanish side +with the exception of Navarre is thus built up of considerable +valleys, comparable to those of the Tet and the Ariège alone +upon the northern slope.</p> + +<p class="tb">The details of Pyrenean structure will concern a man travelling +on foot more than do these general lines, though the whole +aspect of the range must be grasped before one can understand +its details. The separate peaks and valleys, the intimate +structure of the range is remarkable everywhere for its +abruptness. It is this physical feature in the Pyrenees, +coupled with the absence of snow, which gives them the highly +individual character they bear.</p> + +<p>Fantastic outlines are not to be discovered in these hills so +frequently as in the Dolomites, nor are wholly isolated hills +common, though such few as exist are very striking, but for +day after day a man wandering in the Pyrenees sees cliffs +more regularly high, a greater succession of rocks more precipitous, +and a more permanent succession of connected summits +above him than in any other European range.</p> + +<p>The absence of snow is a further sharp characteristic in +the range. The essential feature of an Alpine landscape is +the snow; and it is not only the essential feature of that +landscape to the eye, it is the condition which controls the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> +lives of those who inhabit, and of those who visit, the valleys. +You can still wander a trifle in Switzerland. Even to-day +I have come to villages where foreigners were still thought +comic, and an ignorance of the German tongue was still +thought amazing. But though you can wander, your wandering +is strictly limited. Above a certain line you can go forward +only with technical knowledge and in a special way. +You are upon ice or snow. All climbing in the Alps depends +upon this, and most of travel as well. A man may pass many +days for instance in the upper valley of the Rhone, and then +pass many days more in the upper valley of the Aar, but to go +from one to the other he must take one of two strictly defined +paths, unless he is willing to undertake special work requiring +technical knowledge and particular aids. The hills between +the two valleys are not a field for his exploration; they are a +great mass of impassable and unapproachable land, all +frozen, and diversified only by very narrow valleys inhabitable +nowhere but at their base. No one could lose himself for +many days upon the Wetterhorn, the Jungfrau, or the Finsteraarhorn; +you can approach these mountains for the glory +of the thing, but they are not a country-side. Now in the +Pyrenees almost all the surface of the mountains, say 250 +miles by 60, is at your disposal. It is this and a local custom +of live and let live which make the pleasure of them inexhaustible; +and which, combined with certain protective methods +of their own, make it certain that the Pyrenees will never be +overcome or changed by men. They are too large.</p> + +<p>This surface of some 15,000 square miles is diversified in a +manner fairly continuous throughout the chain. The valley +floors are given up to cultivation in their lower part, their +upper parts consist of damp close pastures, and between the +two types of level are to be found, as we shall presently see, +sharp gates of rock through which the river saws its way in a +gorge. Above the valley floor, and at the end of it, where the +stream springs out below the watershed (such springs bubbling +up suddenly through the porous rock are called Jeous), steep +banks of two, three and four thousand feet, broken almost +invariably here and there into precipices, forbid the way;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> +and these, in perhaps half their extent, are covered with +enormous woods of beech below (mixed often with oak) and +of pine above.</p> + +<p>When you have climbed up these slopes through the forest +or over the naked rock, you come, in the last heights, either +to large grassy spaces, which often sweep right over the +summit of a lateral ridge, and sometimes extend over both +sides, even, of the main watershed (as between the Val d’Aran +and Esterri) or else—more commonly—upon a jumble of +jagged rocks and smooth, perpendicular or overhanging slabs, +which defend the final secrets of the range.</p> + +<p>The succession of these features is nearly universal. The +only places where they are modified are the two lower ends of +the range. There the rocks sink, the hills are rounded, the +precipices disappear in the last Basque valleys, while the +Alberes at the other extremity of the chain against the +Mediterranean are at last mere toothed rocks. All between +(with the exception of the Cerdagne, which is a country to +itself) is built up in successive bands of valley floor, steep +forest, or steep rock, broken with limestone precipices, and +finally on the highest ridge sweeps of grass or jagged edges of +stone.</p> + +<p>It is this character in the last ridge of the Pyrenees that +determines the nature of a passage over them, and since a +passage from valley to valley is the chief business of the day +when one is exploring the range, I will next describe these +crossings, for the method of them is very different from that +of other mountains, and has largely determined the history +and customs of their inhabitants.</p> + +<p>In other high mountains you will either find snow above a +certain level and covering for most of the year most of +the passes, some of the passes for all the year, or, as you +go further south, you will commonly find many gaps +which long years of weathering have reduced to easy +slopes, or you will find great differences in slope between +the one and the other side of the range; as, for +instance, the difference between the long valleys that lead +up eastward into the Californian Sierras, and the sharp escarpment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> +which falls eastward upon the desert side of those heights. +In all other ranges that I have seen or read of, save the Pyrenees, +there is at least great diversity in the opportunities of +crossing, whether natural or artificial. There is great diversity, +as a rule, in the natural crossings; some are quite easy +ascents and descents on either side (as the Brenner Pass over +the Alps); some, though difficult, are notably lower than the +average height of the range (as the Mont Genèvre from the +Durance into Piedmont); some, these more rare, are deep +gorges cleft right through the range (as the Danube gorge +through the Carpathians).</p> + +<p>Now it is characteristic of the Pyrenees that in the main part +of their length no such diversities appear, save that there are +two kinds of summit surfaces on the high cols, rock and grass: +the grass the rarer.</p> + +<p>If anyone looks closely at the Somport, especially noting +the line which the old track took before the modern road was +made, he will agree that it is a pass which, though steep, had +no “edge” to it, so to speak. The grass would take any kind +of traffic. The same is true of course of the Cerdagne, the +only broad valley across the Pyrenees. But the Somport is +well to the west end of the range; the Cerdagne is well to the +east end. All the main part between could take no vehicle, +and has crossings of a kind which I shall presently describe: +sharp, the escalade difficult, the first descent upon the far +side, or the last ascent upon the near side, steep.</p> + +<p>There is perhaps an exception to be found in the case of the +Bonaigo, but this pass also presents difficulties to wheels +upon its western side, and in the lower valley at the gorge.</p> + +<p>In general the crossings of the Pyrenees everywhere display +certain characters rare or absent in other ranges, which are +<i>first</i> that they are very numerous (a feature due to the absence +of snow), <i>secondly</i>, that they are very high, <i>thirdly</i>, that they +hardly ever involve any true climbing, and <i>fourthly</i>, that they +nearly always involve some considerable care on the part of +the wayfarer and are somewhere dangerous either upon the +northern or the southern side.</p> + +<p>This can be well illustrated by a particular example in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> +few miles between the Pic D’Anéu and the Canal Roya. Here +there is a range no part of which descends much below 2100 +metres nor rises much above 2300. There are two distinct +saddles where a man can cross on foot, and neither is appreciably +lower than the peaks of the range, which are but lumps +of rock a little higher than the grassy ridges from which they +spring. Any man knowing the country and with a fairly +good head could trust himself to half a dozen places westward +of the two which I have mentioned (which are called the Col +D’Anéu and the Port of Peyreget). Nevertheless the easiest +of them, the Port de Puymaret, easy as it is upon the French +side, gives some pause upon the Spanish. The traveller finds +himself, once over the crest, within a few yards of a rocky +edge, beyond which there is apparently nothing but air, and, +thousands of feet beyond, the precipices of the Negras. If he +will approach that rocky edge he will see that everything +below it is easily negotiable, and when he has once reached +the floor of the Spanish valley beneath he will perhaps wonder +why it seemed so difficult from above. In truth it is not really +difficult at all, but the scramble looks dangerous, and it is +one which most men, other than regular climbers, would +think twice about when they first saw it from above. If all +this is true of the Peyreget, it is still more true of the other +crossings in its neighbourhood to the right and to the left.</p> + +<p>Were the Pyrenees surmountable at comparatively few +passages, these would have been so thought out and perhaps +improved as to make them regular and well-known passes, +which the traveller could easily deal with. It is the very +number of the crossings which add to their difficulties. The +people who live upon either side are indifferent in their choice +among so many difficult passages, and with the exception of +one or two quite modern made roads with which I shall presently +deal, there are some hundreds of Cols and Ports all +having in common a character of difficulty, and few naturally +so much more easy than their neighbours as to concentrate +travel upon them.</p> + +<p>This feature may be summed up in the expression that the +crest of the Pyrenees is rather one long ridge slightly serrated<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> +than (as in the case of most other ranges) a succession of high +mountain groups separated by low saddles.</p> + +<p>Of all the accidents that strike one in connexion with the +crossing of these hills nothing strikes one more than the accident +of time. A Port is always a day and a long day. Here +and there quite exceptionally there may be food and shelter +upon either side within six or seven hours one from the other; +but as a rule if you propose to sleep under cover upon either +side, your effort will demand a long summer’s day, and it is +best to look forward to a night camp upon the further side of +the range.</p> + +<p>Before continuing the description of these passages, or any +rules by which one should be guided in attempting them, it +may be well to speak for a moment of the few practised and +conventional tracks.</p> + +<p>First of these come, of course, the high roads. At present, +over the frontier, these are but four in number (for the low +passes to the east of the Canigou may be neglected), Roncesvalles, +the Somport, the Pourtalet, and the Cerdagne. Of +these the Pourtalet has been but recently opened, and was +just before the war still in process of being widened upon the +French side. Moreover, it is so nearly neighbouring to the +Somport (there is but 8 miles between them), that it hardly +affords a true alternative crossing. A fifth high road across +the watershed is that which crosses it at Porté from the valley +of the Ariège into the Cerdagne, but this road is essentially a +lateral one. It lies wholly in French territory, it joins the +French road through the Cerdagne, and you cannot go by it +down the valley of the Segre. It only crosses the watershed +on account of an accidental divergence of this to the south, +in the upper valley of the Ariège.</p> + +<p>These four carriage roads are all that lead, at present, over +the political boundary of the Pyrenees. Another is in construction +over the Port of Salau, but it is not finished upon +the Spanish side. The French desire several others to go over +by the Macadou, Gavarnie, etc., but their own preparations +are not completed and the Spanish are not even begun.</p> + +<p>Apart, however, from these high roads, which are carefully<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> +graded, possess an excellent surface, and are traversable by +any vehicle, there are a certain number of crossings which +travel has rendered familiar, and whose facility is well known. +Thus, the Embalire from the Hospitalet on the upper Ariège +into the upper Segre in Andorra is a perfectly easy slope of +grass, though high. Again, the Bonaigo, though there have +been natural difficulties in the lower valley to be surmounted, +and though there is not even a track across it, is a perfectly +easy roll of grassy land barely 6000 feet high. A high road leads +as far as Esterri on the Spanish side; another goes from +France on the northern side, right up the valley of the Garonne, +beyond Biella, to the paths at the very foot of the pass, so that +the gap between the two highways is but a few miles in length.</p> + +<p>The Port de Venasque again, though but a mule track, is +constantly used, and, though steep and high (close upon 8000 +feet), presents no difficulties at all, and is almost a highway +between the two countries. The Port de Gavarnie is similarly +constantly used and may be taken like any other mountain +path. Certain other passes form an intermediate category. +They present no difficulties to one who is acquainted with the +neighbourhood, but either the whole path is difficult to trace +or its last and highest portion is dangerous, or there are precipices +upon its lower slope, or in one way and another they +cannot be regarded as constant and regular communications +of international travel, though the inhabitants use them continually. +Of such a kind is the Port d’Ourdayte; of such a +kind are the passages from the Aston into Andorra, and of such +a kind are most of the passages just west of the Port de Venasque. +If one applied the test of asking where the Pyrenees +could be crossed in doubtful weather, not half a dozen places +could be found beyond the four high roads; and even if one +were to ask in what spots they could certainly be crossed by +a stranger without chance of failure, the number of passages +would prove less than a score. All the rest of the ridge from +the Sierra del Cadi to the Basque mountains is the rocky wall +I have described, with innumerable notches more or less +practicable, but all difficult, and nearly all requiring a detailed +knowledge of either slope.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span></p> + +<p>There are one or two other features needing explanation +before I close this introduction to a physical knowledge of +the range; thus the reader should be acquainted with the +many groups of lakes and tarns which stand just under the +highest peaks and ridges in groups: they are highly characteristic +of the Pyrenees. There is a cluster of half a dozen at +the western base of the Pic du Midi d’Ossau, another cluster +surrounding the neighbourhood of Panticosa, another in the +summit of the Encantados between the Maladetta group and +the valley of the Noguera, another very famous one well known +to fishermen high up in the knot of mountains whose summit +is the Carlitte, and there are many isolated small lakes which +the map discovers. But whether in groups or isolated, one +feature is common to all these lakes of the Pyrenees—first, +that none is of any size; secondly, that all, or very nearly all, +are quite in the highest parts of the hills immediately under +the last escarpment; and thirdly, as a consequence, that it is +rare to find a lake which the presence of wood and the neighbourhood +of habitation render suitable for camping.</p> + +<p>It is worth remembering that, unlike most mountain +systems, the Pyrenees do not, even in sudden storms, endanger +one as a rule by a rapid increase in size of the torrents; one +has not to fear spates so much as one might imagine from the +multiplicity of the streams on the northern side or the large +area of the valleys on the southern. This truth, of course, +must not be exaggerated nor too much advantage taken of it. +That part of a stream which will be just traversable after +several fine days may become just too violent to cross after a +few hours of rain, but I have never seen those sudden changes +of level from a rivulet to a considerable torrent which one +may so often see in British mountains, which are common +enough in Scandinavia and even in the Alps, and which are a +regular condition of travel in the Rockies.</p> + +<p>Why this should be so it would be difficult to say. The +great area of forest upon the north might account for regularity +upon that slope, but it would not account for it upon the +Spanish side. And one would imagine that snow in large +masses, which is lacking in the Pyrenees and present in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> +Alps, would rather tend to regulate the flow of rivers; but +whatever be the cause, the evenness of level is what one used +to other ranges will first remark when he has to cross and +recross under different conditions the higher streams of this +chain in summer.</p> + +<p>There should lastly be noted the absence of any important +glaciers, a feature due to the absence of snow-fields. On the +summit of the Cirque de Gavarnie, on the summits of the Pic +d’Enfer and the neighbourhood, on the summits of the Maladetta +group, and in one or two other parts, there are small +glaciers, but they form no general feature in the landscape of +the Pyrenees, and have no effect upon travel.</p> + +<p>Lastly, the climate of these mountains should be noted: +it is a very important part of the conditions which determine +travel upon them.</p> + +<p>The rain-bearing winds blow from the Atlantic eastward, +and if the Pyrenees stood upon either slope equally accessible +to the sea, it is possible that the Spanish side would be the +more deeply wooded and the best watered. The sudden +trend westward of the Spanish coast, however, at the corner +of the Bay of Biscay, causes the wet winds from the Ocean +to lose most of their moisture to Galicia and the Asturias, +before they can strike the Pyrenees themselves from the south, +while the same winds, coming around the range from the north, +come upon the Pyrenees immediately after leaving the sea. +The result of this is that the French side is throughout its +length more heavily watered than the Spanish side; but on +either side there are three zones which, though not sharply +distinguishable one from the other, are sufficiently remarkable.</p> + +<p>The first is that of heavy rains, and, what is more important +for purposes of travel, of continuous rain and frequent mist. +It stretches all along the western end of the range, and only +begins perceptibly to change with the heights of the Pic d’Anie +and the precipitous barrier of the upper valley of the Aspe. +West of this line—that is, in all the Basque-speaking country—you +have deep pastures upon either side of the range, and all +the marks of the damp in the timber and the mode of building, +the vegetable growth and the animals of the place. Snow falls<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> +later here than in the other parts of the Pyrenees, for the +double reason that the neighbourhood of the sea makes the +climate milder and that the hills are less high. In most places, +for instance, communication is not cut off between the north +and south valleys of the Basques, and men can usually cross +from Ste. Engrace to Isaba at all seasons.</p> + +<p>The next zone (the eastern frontier of which is very vague) +may be said to stretch, according to the year and the accident +of weather, certainly as far as the Catalans and the valley of +the Noguera on the east, and sometimes as far as the valley of +the Segre itself. In all this central part of the range (which +may normally be said to include more than half its length) +the French or northern side is densely wooded and heavily +watered, the Spanish side more dry and bare; but even the +French side slowly shows a change of climate as one goes +eastward, the forests remain as dense, the rivers as full, but +the days are certainly finer and mist less frequent. On the +Spanish side the change as one goes eastward is less striking, +because the whole climate is drier. It is to be remarked that +if mist gathers upon the northern side of the hills when one +is attempting a pass, one may fairly count upon its disappearance +upon the Spanish side in this section; and, in general, +the whole of the southern slope, from the valley of the Aragon +to that of the Noguera, is of a dry and equal nature, somewhat +barren and burnt, not only from the lack of moisture, but also +from exposure to the sun.</p> + +<p>The lack of moisture on the central Spanish slope, by the +way, is not a little aided by the curious formation of the +frontier of Navarre, and the separation between the Basques +and the Aragonese; this consists in a long ridge of high land, +the upper part of which is known as the Sierra Longa, which +runs south and a little west from the Pic d’Anie. The effect of +this lack of moisture and excess of heat upon the central +Spanish side is not only felt on the heights of the mountain, +but also and more particularly when one approaches the Plains. +These in France are northern in type, full of greenery, and +amply watered. In Spain, on the contrary, they are quite +arid, and if one comes in to Huesca by train upon a September<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> +evening, and looks out the next morning over the flats that +run up to the Sierra de Guara, one has all the impressions of a +desert, though these lands are heavy corn-bearing lands in +the summer.</p> + +<p>Finally, the third, or eastern, section of the hills is Mediterranean +in character throughout. The Canigou is much more +heavily watered than the Sierra del Cadi, its corresponding +Spanish height. But the olives on the lower slopes, the carpet +of vineyards on the flats, the presence everywhere of bright +insects, the quality of the light and the aridity of everything +which does not happen to be planted with trees, give to this +eastern corner of the Pyrenees the same aspect that you may +notice on the Mediterranean hills of Southern France, Liguria, +or Algeria or the Balearic Islands, for all these landscapes are +of one kind, and binding them all together is not only their +burnt red look, but also that tideless intense blue of the +Mediterranean, the hot white towns, and everywhere the +lateen sail upon the coasts.</p> + +<p>These differences of climate also determine the seasons in +which the mountains may best be visited, for the Basque district +is at your service (especially in its western part) from the +spring to the late autumn of the year; the central valleys can +be everywhere travelled in only from late June to mid-September; +the eastern end, again, from the Segre and beyond +it, is open to you from spring to autumn.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus02" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus02.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="II">II<br> +<span class="smaller">THE POLITICAL CHARACTER OF THE PYRENEES</span></h2> + +</div> + +<figure class="figleft illowp60" id="illus03" style="max-width: 20.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus03.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The Political character of the +Pyrenees corresponds to the +Physical character which has +been described. The high crest is +the bond and division, from the beginning, +between two societies which are +connected by such common social +habits as mountains impose—which +therefore fall under similar local customs, +which have a common jealousy of +the civilized power on the plains below +them, and which support each other in a +tacit way against the stranger, yet which, from the beginning, +have different governments and (especially in the high central +part) deal with different corporate traditions—to the north the +Béarnese, to the south Aragon. The easier passes to the west +and the east of the chain permit a more or less homogeneous +community to straddle across either end of the mountains, +and to hold upon both slopes the sea roads that pass along the +Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The people thus astraddle +of the eastern end have come to be called the <i>Catalans</i>. That +astraddle of the western, a highly distinct group of men with +language, traditions, and physical characteristics wholly their +own, has always been known by some title closely resembling +their modern name of <i>Basques</i>.</p> + +<p>The foundation, therefore, upon which Pyrenean History +is built, or (to use another metaphor), the germ from which it +has developed and which explains its course, is a tripartite +division of the inhabitants, corresponding, as I shall presently +show, to the physical features of the chain: an eastern or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> +Catalan, a western or Basque, and a central group whose +characteristic it is to subdivide according to the deep valleys +into which it is separated, but which falls into two main +societies, the one north of the chain which becomes the group +of French counties whose typical government is Béarn, the +other south of the chain, which assumes at last for its title +“The Kingdom of Aragon.”</p> + +<p>The first matter to be noticed with regard to this tripartite +division is the exactitude of its boundaries. One might +imagine that the language, the habits, and the clear characteristics +of any group would merge easily into those of its +neighbours upon either side. This is not the case. The +Basque type—much the most particular—ceases abruptly +upon the watershed between the Gave d’Oloron and the Gave +d’Aspe to the north of the range, upon the watershed between +the Veral and the Esca to the south of it. The Catalans, with +a dialect, mind, and dress wholly their own, are found to the +<i>north</i> from the sea up to the Col de Puymorens, and everywhere +east of the Carlitte mountains; in the Ariège valley and +just over these heights, and on the further side of that Col, +they are changed. To the <i>south</i> of the range they extend +everywhere from the sea to the valley of the Ribagorza. +Cross westward from that Catalan valley to the Esera. There, +after hours of scrambling, down by the rocks and deserted +tarns, you may towards evening find a man; that man will +show the slow gestures, the silence, and the elaborate courtesy +of Aragon.</p> + +<p>The mountain ridges which divide these various peoples +are sufficient to mark their boundaries; but they do not +suffice to explain why the Catalan, the Basque, the Aragonese, +the Béarnais should cease suddenly here or there. True, the +high lateral ridges which are so striking a peculiarity of the +Pyrenees form barriers with difficulty passed, but these +barriers are found just as high and just as precipitous and +savage between two valleys of the same speech and nation +as between two of different allegiance. Thus the wild jumble +of mountains, “the Enchanted Range,” cuts off the Catalans +of Esterri from the Catalans of the Ribagorzana. To pass<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> +them is something of a feat for anyone not of these hills—for +much of the year they are closed to the native inhabitants. +Their passage is hardly more of a task or more precipitous +than the passage from Aragonese Venasque to Aragonese +Bielsa, or from Béarnais Gabas, in the Val d’Ossau, to Béarnais +Urdos, in the Val d’Aspe.</p> + +<p>An explanation of the unity which rules over each group, +Basque, Central and Catalan, can only be given by referring +each to the plains at the mouths of the valleys. It is the towns +at the entry of these plains that form the markets and rallying +places of the mountaineers and that determine their groupings. +Oloron is the link between the two Béarnais valleys I have +mentioned. Urgel binds Catalan Andorra to Catalan Esterri. +Why, however, the groups should lie exactly where they do it +is impossible to determine, for no records reach beyond the +Romans. All we can say is that the Pic d’Anie, the first high +peak eastward from the Mediterranean, forms the boundary +stone of the Basques, as it does the chief physical mark dividing +the high central ridge from the easier western passes; +that the tangle of difficult and impossible peaks just eastward +of the Maladetta are the boundary of Catalan south of the +range, the similar but less abrupt tangle of the Carlitte, their +boundary upon the north. How these nations arose, whence +they wandered, whether their differentiation has arisen upon +the spot out of an earlier homogeneity or is due to the conflict +of invaders—of all this we know nothing.</p> + +<p>The place names of the Pyrenees, like those of all Spain, +and half Gascony, do indeed afford a curious speculation which +arises from the high proportion of names that are certainly +<i>Basque</i>, though out of Basque territory. Of this language I +shall write later: for my present purpose the point I would +desire the reader to note is the sharp contrast which exists +between that idiom and the idioms around it. There is no +mistaking a Basque word, and yet these are found in all the +Pyrenean range and to the north and south of them in a +hundred place names, attached to hills, rivers and towns where +Basque has been unknown throughout all recorded history. +It is even plausibly suggested that the Latin “Vascones,”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> +the French “Gascon” is equivalent to “Basque,” and the +late Mr. York Powell, the Regius Professor of History at +Oxford, would say in speaking upon this matter that “Gascon +was Latin spoken by Basques.” He possessed that type of +education, rare or unknown in our universities, which +made him capable of individual judgment in departments of +living knowledge where his colleagues could but repeat words +taught them from a book. This quality reposed upon a wide +acquaintance with all matters of European interest. His +diverse reading and considerable travel enabled him to balance +human evidence in a way hopeless to his less fortunate neighbours +in the University, and his conclusion on this important +detail of history has always recurred to me when I have +examined some new point in the early history of these mountains. +There must, however, be set against the general conclusion +that the Basques are the remnant of a people once +universal from the Garonne to the Pyrenees, and throughout +the Iberian Peninsula, the fact that they present a marked +physical type utterly distinct from others upon every side. +That a race of such a character, vigorous, attached to the soil, +in no way nomadic, should have abandoned a large territory +is difficult to believe; moreover, there is no case in all the +recorded history of Western Europe of one people ousting +another, and the process is manifestly physically impossible, +save among nomads. Jews or Arabs could propagate and +even believe such a theory. To Europeans it is laughable: +the peasants and cities of Europe never have been, nor ever +can be, largely displaced.</p> + +<p>All we know is that these place names exist throughout +Spain and all over the Pyrenees, and that the million or so +who speak the language whence such names are derived now +occupy a tiny corner only of the vast territory over which +those names are spread. The rest is guesswork.</p> + +<p>Ignorant as we are of the origin of the differentiation +between Basque, Béarnais, Catalan and Aragonese, an +historical fact quite certain—though no document proves it—is +the extreme antiquity of these classes of men. That all +Pyrenean history reposes upon their separate existence must<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> +be evident to anyone who has watched the commercial manner, +the mercantile vivacity, the whole mentality of the Catalan, +and has contrasted it with the quiet chivalry of Aragon. +Different military fortunes, different economic outlets, and +different accidents of central government may possibly account +within the historic period for the contrast between the Aragonese +and the people of Béarn, Bigorre, or Comminges. No +such forces can account for the gulf that cuts off the Catalan +and the Basque at either end of the chain from the inhabitants +of its high central portion. Infinite time is the maker of +states, and two thousand years could never have determined +societies so sharply separate. We must regard their constant +and immemorial presence in the Pyrenees as the first and +enduring principle to guide us in the history of those mountains.</p> + +<p>From this fundamental truth, which leads the prehistoric +into the historic, one must proceed to another political fact +of high importance, which is that while the watershed of the +range has but partially separated customs and local thought, +and that only in the centre of the range, it has necessarily +served as a political boundary whenever a high civilization +found it necessary to establish such a strict line. The boundary +and the watershed may not exactly coincide—they do +not exactly coincide even in the highly organized condition +of modern society; but in the two historical periods of strict +policy, the Roman and our own, the crest of the range has +marked, and marks, an obvious boundary for most of its +length. The political distinction between Hispania and Gaul +cut the Basque nation into two, following the mountains from +Roncesvalles to the Pic d’Anie: it cut the Catalan people into +two, following the water parting from the two Nogueras to +the Mediterranean. It followed the central chain, indifferent +to the similarity or difference between the northern and the +southern valleys. To-day the political distinction between +Spain and France follows nearly the same line.</p> + +<p>The reason of this was, and is, twofold. First, that a clear +physical boundary easily definable and of its nature permanent—the +crest of a chain, a broad river, or what not—necessarily +recommends itself to a bureaucracy in search of simplicity<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> +and economy in the work of a great political machine. +We see it in the new countries to-day, where the instinct of +organized government for easily definable and exact limits +takes refuge in establishing parallels of latitude as state boundaries +in the absence of marked physical lines. Secondly, in +the case of mountains, and especially of mountains as sharp +and as boldly set as are the Pyrenees, the fatigue of climbing, +the absence of carriageways, made each valley dependent for +its connexion with the central government upon some town +of the plains, and the authority of a provincial magistrate +could not but run, as ran the physical instruments of his rule, +up from Huesca northward to Sallent—for instance, or up from +Jaca to Canfranc, and so to the summit of the ridge; or up +from Oloron southward to Accous, and so to Urdos. As the +messengers, writs, powers of each proceeded, the way would +become harder, the progress more doubtful. It was obvious +and necessary that the boundary of either jurisdiction should +lie upon the pass. And though the inhabitants of the northern +and the southern valleys might be accustomed to a regular +intercourse across the crest, the Roman agents of a distant +central government could not but have depended upon cities +far removed to the south and to the north of the watershed, as +to-day the police of Tardets, let us say, and of Isaba, two towns +of one speech, refer respectively through Pau and through +Pamplona to Paris and to Madrid.</p> + +<p>It is in the interplay of these two jarring political forces, +the permanent national seats of Basque, Catalan, etc., and the +use of the range as a political or official boundary, that the +political character of the Pyrenees resides; and as their +history begins with the Romans, to whom we owe the first +knowledge of the Pyrenean people and the first use of the +Pyrenean boundary, it will be well to consider it under territories +divided as the Romans divided them, by the main range, +and to follow first the development of the northern slope.</p> + +<p>The historical origins of the French Pyrenees are sharply +divided in history by that wall which cuts off all that Rome +<i>made</i> from all that Rome <i>inherited</i>. Rome made of the barbarians +a new world, but before she began that task Rome had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> +inherited everywhere within a march of the Mediterranean a +belt of land whose civilization was similar to, always as old as, +and sometimes older than, her own. It was a municipal +civilization dependent upon the arts and religion proper to a +city state. It built, whether temples or ships, as Rome would +build them: it was one thing; it is almost one thing to-day; +and its bond at Antioch as at Saguntum, at Marseilles as at +Athens or Alexandria, was, and is, the universal water of the +Mediterranean. To such cities and their territories Rome fell +heir. Little proceeded from her to them save first the sense +of unity, and later the Faith, and of the whole system, the +belt which stretches from Valencia to Genoa, now broadening +to the plains of Nemosus (Nîmes), now narrowing to the rocky +ledge of the Portus Veneris (Port Vendres), concerns the first +evidence of Pyrenean history; for it was from a corner of this +belt—between Tarragona and Narbonne—that the advance of +civilization inland and along the Chain proceeded.</p> + +<p>A century before the four imperial centuries which made our +Christian world, a century before Augustus Cæsar, Rome had +fully occupied and impressed that soil—to the south Gerona +and the Catalan fields, to the north the rich floor which lies +under the Canigou and has come to be called the <i>Rousillon</i>. +Thence the Roman advance north of the hills proceeded. The +chief town of the sea-plain—whose name “Illiberis” is so +strongly Basque in form—Rome took for the central municipality +of that plain, and made it the capital of the coastal +district. This hill and citadel, at which Hannibal had halted +a hundred years before, preserved as a bishopric for thirteen +hundred years a memory of the Roman order. Constantine +formed its diocese, rebuilt it, gave it his mother’s name of +Helena. The sea by which it lived has withdrawn from it. +It has sunk to be a little country town, “Elne.” Roscino +which lay also upon the coast march of Hannibal, has sunk to +something smaller still, yet, by some accident, gave the province, +in the dark ages, its name of Roussillon which it still +retains. These two towns, the fruitful plain about them, the +Port of Venus (which is now Port Vendres), formed the municipal +structure of this district, the last corner of the great<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> +province whose headship lay at Narbonne. Its nominal +boundaries included all the vale of the Tet; it extended as +far as now extends the Catalan language, and was bounded, as +that is bounded, by the great form of the Carlitte and its high +lakes and snows. All between that mountain and the sea, +all the eastern decline of the range and the slope north of it, +was ancient land, and had been ploughed and held and walled +by men of the Mediterranean civilization long before Rome +inherited it.</p> + +<p>With the much longer stretch that runs from the upper +Ariège to the Atlantic it was very different. This was of what +Rome made, not of what Rome inherited. Before the coming +of Roman government it was barbarous, and the many tribes +or petty states, whose number various guesses of antiquity +record (they were perhaps as numerous in their subdivision +as the valleys), stand in three main groups when first the civilization +to the east of them began to record their existence: +these three were first the Convenæ, south of Toulouse, and all +about the upper waters of the Garonne. Next to these came +the Auscians, and finally, over the Basque end of the hills +towards the ocean, was the seat of the Tarbelli.</p> + +<p>The whole point of view of antiquity differed from ours in +speaking of such tribes, nor is it easy to pick out from the +scraps of observation that have come down to us the kind of +information that we want. Sometimes a name survives, +sometimes it does not; sometimes we get a hint of a variety of +race, most often we lack it. It is the very meagreness and +eccentricity of the information upon a barbarous race and +custom which affords such opportunities to our dons for those +forms of speculation which they love to put forward as dogma, +the most absurd example of which, perhaps, is the interpretation +and enlargement of Tacitus’ “Germania.” It is therefore +exceedingly difficult to know of what kind were these +people beyond the old Roman pale. We do not know what +language they spoke. We only know that, like other Gallic +communities, they centred round fortified places, that their +pacification was easy, and that, like everything else in Western +Europe, they were of an unchangeable kind.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span></p> + +<p>The whole district between the Garonne and the Pyrenees +came to be called, during the first four centuries of our era, +“The Nine Peoples.” The Convenæ are early noted to have +attached to them upon their right and upon their left, to east +and to west, the Consevanni and the Bigerriones. The first +of these were (to follow the high authority of Duchesne) +organized as early as the first century; what is now St. Lizier +was their old capital and later their bishopric, which takes its +present name from Glycerius, a saint of the sixth century. +They held all those hills of which St. Girons close by is now +the centre. The Bigerriones are not heard of until the +mention of them in the Notitia of the fourth century. They +must have held Bigorre, and the three valleys which I have +called the valleys of Tarbes. Tarbes—then Turba—was their +capital, and was and is their bishopric.</p> + +<p>The Auscians do not concern us. They and the three groups +into which they are later distinguished held the western plains +and foot hills. The Tarbelli held both the foot hills and the +mountains of the west; their capital was at Dax. They also +split into, or are later recognized as three separate groups, +making up with the two other sets of three “The Nine +Peoples,” under which title all this country below the Pyrenees +became permanently known. But of the three only the +<i>Civitas Benarnensium</i>, whence we get the name Béarn, and +the <i>Civitas Elloronensium</i>, with its capital at Iloro, which has +become Oloron, concern us. The capital and soon the +bishopric of the <i>Civitas Benarnensium</i> was at Lescar, as far +as we can make out, and Lescar bore the chief sanctity in +Béarn until that country was swept by the Reformation. +The sovereigns of Béarn were buried there, even the Protestant +sovereigns, and it remained a bishopric, whose bishop was the +President of the Parliament of Béarn, until the Revolution; +but it was the Reformation which destroyed its original +character of a capital.</p> + +<p>We have, therefore with the earliest ages of our civilization, +five peoples holding the northern Pyrenees, the Consevanni, +the Convenæ, the people of Bigorre, the Béarnese, and the +Elloronians.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p> + +<p>It is remarkable that in such a list, our Roman originators +and their geographers overlooked the Basques. The category +ends precisely at the present limit of the Basque tongue. +For the Val d’Aspe, of which Oloron is the town, is the first +French-speaking valley. Why it is that we hear nothing of +the Basques it is difficult to say, especially as the second of the +great Roman military roads went right through their country. +Bayonne, which is the Basque’s town of the plains on the +north, is heard of in the fifth century. It has a garrison; +but no bishopric until the tenth. Pamplona, which is their +town on the south, was known before the beginnings of our +Christian history. But the Basques themselves are not known +to us from the Romans. The name of the Consevanni survives +locally. The country round St. Girons is still all one +country-side and called the “Conserans.” Of the Convenæ we +have a pleasant legend in St. Jerome telling how Pompey got +together all the brigands of the mountains, drove them +northward hither, and forced them into a garrison (a stronghold +which, like Lyons and the rest, was one of the many +“Lugdunums”). It was destroyed early in the dark ages, +and later revived by St. Bertrand, a little way off in his +Episcopal town. Their name survives in the district of +Comminges. The Béarnese name of course survives and so +does the Bigorrean, while the Elloronean, though no longer +the title of a district, is preserved in the town name of Oloron.</p> + +<p>All this country, not only that of the five tribes along the +mountains, but the whole territory occupied by the nine +peoples (who afterwards became twelve), lay in a profound +peace under Roman rule, and we may be certain of its increasing +wealth throughout the first four great formative centuries +of our era.</p> + +<p>The advance of Rome upon the Spanish side was of a very +different kind. Rome, after the Carthaginian wars, inherited +broad belts of civilized and half civilized land. All the +Mediterranean slope below the mouth of the Ebro, and a belt +quite three days’ marches wide inland to the north of that +river, was full of ancient populated towns, alive with the full +civilization common to every shore of the inland sea. So, we<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> +may be certain, were the broad plains of the south where the +most complete and earliest absorption of the Celt-Iberian in +Roman speech and ideas took place. The advance into the +north-west and therefore along the Pyrenees covered more +than a century of strict and perpetual warfare, which was +intermixed by the civil wars of the Roman commanders. The +extremities of the Asturias were reached in the century before +the birth of our Lord, but the advance was not, as upon the +north, a rapid expansion beyond the old boundaries. It took +the form of siege after siege and battle after battle, in which +those numerous and crushing defeats, which Rome (like every +truly military power) reckoned to be a necessary part of +history, interrupted the slow progress of her law. The Celt-Iberian +towns were walled and strong; their resistance was +painful and tenacious; there was no sudden illumination of a +willing people by a new culture, such as had taken place in +Gaul, rather was northern Spain kneaded by generations of +warfare into the stuff of the Empire.</p> + +<p>When the work was accomplished, it was complete throughout +the Peninsula; and though the silent strength of the +Basques prevented the Roman language from invading their +valleys, the administration of the whole territory south of +the Pyrenees must have been as exact and as bureaucratic +as that to the north of it. There was, however, this great +difference due to local topography between the Spanish and +the French hills, that the municipalities upon which Rome +stretched her power, as upon pegs, were less common, were +farther apart, and approached less nearly to the central +ridge upon the southern than upon the northern side. What +you see to-day south of the Pyrenees is what you might have +seen at any time in the last 2000 years—a very few scattered +towns, still the centres of government, and all the rest rare +isolated villages living their own life, free from the criminal, +and, by a regular payment of small taxes, half independent +of the civil law. Alone of the true mountain sites, Jaca in the +middle, Pamplona and Urgel at either extremity, were bishoprics. +Huesca, St. Laurence’s town, a fourth centre, is in the +plains. For the rest the confused storm of hills ending in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> +those parallel ranges, pushed right out on to the burnt flats of +the Ebro, forbade the establishment of a municipal civilization.</p> + +<p>Upon all this land to the north and to the south of the +mountains came, after five hundred years of a high civilization, +the slow decline of culture, and the infiltration of the +barbarians. In a sense the nominal divisions between the +barbaric kingdoms has its importance, for they help us to +understand changes of dynasty and of custom. But they were +of no political effect. The mass of the people knew little of +the chance soldiers who, with their mixed retinues of Roman, +Breton, German, Slav, and the rest—some able, some not +able to read the letters of Rome—sat in the old seats of office, +issued their writs through the still surviving Roman Bureaucracy +and from palaces which were but those of decayed +Roman governors.</p> + +<p>For the greater part of Western Europe, and especially of +Gaul, this process of decay was one into which Europe slowly +dipped as into a bath of sleep, and out of which it rose more +rapidly through the energy of the Crusades and of the renewed +Pontificate into the splendour of the Middle Ages. But the +Pyrenees suffered in this matter a peculiar fate. When +Spain was overrun by the Mohammedan, and when in the +first generation of the eighth century the Asiatic with his alien +creed and morals had even swept for a moment into Gaul, +the Pyrenees became a march: at first the rampart, later, +when they were fully held, the bastion of our civilization +against its chief peril. It is this episode by which the +Pyrenees became the military base of the advance against +Islam—an episode covering the whole life of Charlemagne +and after him the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries—which +gives them their legendary atmosphere and fills all their names +with romance.</p> + +<p>The northern slope, during the long business by which Gaul +became itself again, was but a remote border province. The +new life of Gaul, after the shock which had so nearly destroyed +Europe was over, sprang from Paris. The influence of Paris +radiating upon every side built up again accuracy of knowledge, +unity of government, and general law. To this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> +influence the Pyrenees seemed the most remote of boundaries. +The valleys were little affected by the growth of the French +Monarchy; they remained for centuries broken into a maze +of half-republican customs, of tiny independent lordships, +guarded and menaced by separate and jealous walled municipalities +upon the plains—all of this vaguely and slowly +coalesced into larger districts, doubtful of their sovereignty +and perpetually struggling upon their boundaries and their +sub-boundaries.</p> + +<p>In this development nothing was more striking than the +way in which this remote border at first looked rather to the +south, where the interest of religious war was ever present, +than to the north, whence government was slowly coming +towards it. The French Pyrenees fought and felt with the +whole range, not with the plains. Jaca in the worst time, +when it was the only mountain bishopric free from the Mohammedan, +counselled with and was perhaps suffragan to Eauze. +Urgel sat in the provincial Synod of Narbonne. As the +success of the Reconquista pushed the noise of crusade further +and further from the range, the northern valleys looked more +and more towards their northern towns. Their nominal allegiances +grew stricter—as of Foix to Toulouse—and every French +bishopric was bound more and more to its northern metropolitan, +the Spanish sees to the new metropolitans of the Ebro.</p> + +<p>At last an issue was joined between Northern and Southern +France of the first moment to the unity of Gaul itself and of +all Christendom. The Crusades, the knowledge of the East, +the awakening of the intelligence and of its appetites, had +bred throughout the wealthy towns of what had been from +the beginning Roman land, a desire to be rid of the restraints +of fixed religion. The South of France began to move towards +its pagan past. It was a movement which had already had +its strange echo in the north, a movement which in England +had only been pulled up at the last moment by the martyrdom +of St. Thomas. Here in Gaul, in the sunlight, and backed +by so much gold, the rational and sensual revolt became a +larger thing, and when various sources of disruption, speculation, +and achievement had met in one stream, it was commonly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> +called the <i>Albigensian</i> movement. The issue was decided, +after heavy fighting, in the early thirteenth century, and the +victory was with the cause of the unity of Europe. Toulouse +(the true centre of the storm) and its lord were conquered. +Northern barons swept down, held no small part of the +southern land, and from that time onward the French +Pyrenees are normally dependent on Paris.</p> + +<p>Two exceptions survived, the straddle of the Basque across +the chain and the straddle of the Catalan. The Basque had +his country of Navarre upon either side of the chain; with it +went Béarn, and these were independent of the French crown. +The Catalan, able to traverse the chain by the flat floor of the +Cerdagne, preserved the unity of his mountain province, and +the Roussillon counted with Spain. Apart from this easy +passage into the Roussillon from the south, by way of the +Cerdagne, the isolation of the Roussillon was the more easily +accomplished from the long spur of the Corbieres, which runs +north and east towards the sea and cuts off from France the +wealthy plain of which Elne had once been, Perpignan had +later become, the capital.</p> + +<p>This arrangement endured, in name at least, until the seventeenth +century. The last heir of Navarre was also the +heir nearest to the French throne at the close of the religious +wars, and as Henry IV of France he united the two crowns. +A man who, as a boy, might have rejoiced at that union, could +have lived to see, under Mazarin, the signing of the Treaty of +the Pyrenees, which gave the Roussillon also to the French +Crown. The date of this final arrangement coincided with +what is ironically called “The Restoration” in England: +this date, which definitely closed the power of the English +Monarchy, and substituted for it the power of a wealthy +oligarchic class, coincides throughout Europe with the +struggle between absolute central government for the equal +service of all, and local aristocratic custom. In England the +latter conquered; in Spain and France the debate was decided +in favour of the former.</p> + +<p>Such centralized governments could but further define and +insist upon a new boundary, and from that time onward, for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> +250 years that is, the Pyrenees have been once more as they +were under the clear administration of Rome, a fixed political +boundary; and, save certain exceptions that will be mentioned +later, everything north of the chain has been administered +from Paris, and has slowly accepted, side by side with +the local tongue, the tongue of Northern France and the habit +of a centralized French government.</p> + +<p>South of the chain the process by which Christendom +recrystallized out of the flux of the dark ages, followed a +different course; it was a process to which Spain owes all +her national characteristics, for out of the mountains a Spanish +nation was formed, and from its various communities, as from +roots, the Catholic kingships grew southward until they once +more reached Gibraltar.</p> + +<p>To understand this process, it is necessary to consider factors +absent in the topography of the Gaulish plains, and especially +the factor of that unconquerable tangle of mountains which +occupies all the north-western triangle of the Peninsula.</p> + +<p>The ocean boundaries of the Iberian quadrilateral are nearly +square to the points of the compass. It is not so with the +internal divisions that mark off its central part. Here the +edges of the high and arid plateaux, the deep trenches of the +rivers, the mountain ranges, the boundaries of the plains at +their feet, run slantways from north-east to the south-west. +This slant determined the boundaries of Mohammedan expansion, +while the Asiatics and Africans still retained the energy +to advance; it determined the successive frontiers of the +Reconquest, as our race slowly ousted the invader and +reached at last the sea-coast of Granada. The Arab and the +Moor were masters of Narbonne and all the Roussillon on the +east, when, on the west, they could not cross the mouth of +the Mulio a hundred miles to the south. They were at Jaca +within a day’s march of the watershed along the Roman Road, +when, to the immediate west of it, they could not hold Fuente; +they could not even reach Pamplona, though that western +town is two marches at least from the main crest. Toledo was +reconquered a generation before Saragossa, though Saragossa +is by nearly two degrees more northerly, because Toledo was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> +west of Saragossa. The last Mohammedan kingdom was +crowded, after the thirteenth century, into the extreme +south-east, as the surviving remnant of the free Europeans +of the Peninsula had been crowded into the extreme north-west +in the eighth.</p> + +<p>If the boundaries of undisputed Mohammedan rule be traced +for various dates, the receding wave will be found in general +to follow curves that lead, like the main features of the land, +from the north-east downwards towards the Atlantic.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus04" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus04.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>This main character in the geography and history of Spain, +the south-westerly trend of the mountain ridges, largely determined +the fortunes of those fighting bands of mountaineers +who ceaselessly pressed southward until they had wholly +driven out the invader and reconstituted the unity of Europe. +It determined the first advance to be, not from the Pyrenees, +but from the Asturias, and the first captain connected with the +Christian resistance after the overwhelming of all that civilization, +<i>Pelayo</i> (from whose blood Leon, Castille, Aragon, and +Navarre descend) had his stronghold, not in the Pyrenees, +but a week’s march to the west, along the Biscayan coast at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> +Cangas. Within the decade of the invasion he had checked the +invader in his own hills at Covadonga.</p> + +<p>All the eighth century is full of that successful spirit in +the north-west—but nowhere else. Alfonso, the husband of +Pelayo’s daughter, struck the note with his boast, “No pact +with the infidel,” and the tradition or prophecy that Christendom +would regain the south, springs from him. He conquered +down to the Douro, over what is to-day the mountain frontier +of Portugal; he began those long cavalry raids into the heart +of Moorish land. He rode into Astorga, into Zamora, into +Segovia itself—within sight of the central range of the Guadarama: +riding back with booty, harassed and harassing, +nowhere permanently fixing himself save in the towns of the +west, upon the Lower Douro, but building on the ridges of his +defence, those block-houses, the “Castille” from which, long +after, the frontier province began to take its name.</p> + +<p>All the ninth century that spirit grew. The body of St. +James was found under the Star at Compostella—its shrine +became the national sacrament as it were, a perpetual refreshment +for arms, and a symbol, in its wild isolation among the +rocks of Galicia, of the impregnable places from which the +Reconquista drew its ardour. The advance continued. The +frontier counties consolidated and were named.</p> + +<p>Leon was permanently held, Burgos was founded. If one +takes for a date the opening years of the tenth century, just +after Alfred had saved England also from the pagan, and just +after the Counts of Paris had saved northern Gaul, there is a +full Spanish kingdom standing up against the Mohammedan +power, a king has been crowned in Leon and has died in peace +at Zamora. The cavalry raids have pushed—once at least—to +Toledo. All the north-west lay permanently Christian +beyond a line that ran from the corner of Gaul to the Douro +and down the Douro to the sea; and this united triangle of +Roman land formed a base from which the pushing back of +the alien could proceed.</p> + +<p class="tb">How did this disposition of forces affect the Pyrenees? +Let it first be noted that the newly organized Christian country<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> +lay wholly to the west of the range. In the Pyrenees themselves +the Mohammedan flood had washed every valley. +The crest had been traversed and retraversed; both slopes +were for a moment held by the invaders. Abd-ur-Rahman had +sent or led his thousands by the Roman roads of Roncesvalles +and Urdos and over the Ostondo and the lower passes of the +west. The mule tracks of these rocks had been twice crowded +with the white cloaks of the Arabs. In the east, Narbonne +was held for fifty years, and with it all the Catalans. Even in +the high centre of the chain, where there is no passing between +the Somport and the Cerdagne, wherever there was something +to rob or to destroy, the invaders had penetrated. There was +not here, as in the Asturias, untouched land.</p> + +<p>When the crest of the wave retreated, when the Mohammedan +came back defeated from Gaul, the high valleys +attained—it may be guessed—a savage independence.</p> + +<p>Jaca has legends of its battle at the very beginning of the +Independence, before Charlemagne had come to the rescue, +and from all the valleys of the Sobrarbe, bands of men must +have been perpetually volunteering for skirmishes down into +the plains. Navarre was the natural leader of the movement, +the largest and the most fertile belt of Christian land, but the +little lordship upon the Aragon, fighting down south and east +towards the Ebro, the western count of the Asturias fighting +down south and west, cut off the advance of the Basques; +and though Navarre in the period of birth and turmoil which +is that of Gregory VII’s reform of the Papacy, of the establishment +in England and in Sicily of Norman power, and of preparation +for the Crusade, was the head of all the southern +Pyrenees and called itself an “Empire,” it was blocked by the +double line of advance, and the Basques, upon the foundation +of whose tenacity and courage, as upon a pivot, the Reconquest +had proceeded, took little more part in the wars; but +the Basque strip of Navarre gave its first king to Aragon, and +the son of that first king, Sancho, raided so far as Huesca and +was killed beneath its walls; his son again, Peter, took the +town two years later just as the hosts of Europe were gathering +for that first great march upon Jerusalem which threw<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> +open the curtain of the Middle Ages; and <i>his</i> son, Alfonso +(who had united in one crown Leon and Aragon), went forward +under his great name of the Batallador, and twenty years +later (1119) swept into Saragossa, the last of the Mohammedan +strongholds in the north.</p> + +<p>Thus were the west and the centre of the Spanish slope +recovered for our race and civilization.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Catalonia upon the east had been since Charlemagne, +since the early ninth century, a march of Christendom; +but it was not until the same creative period which had +brought forth the leadership of Navarre and the advance from +Aragon, the Normans, Hildebrand, and the resurrection of +Europe, that Catalonia began to go forward. Its first true +monarch was Berenguer the Old, who lived round and about the +date of Hastings, and was first master of the whole province. +He also founded and maintained the Cortes of Barcelona. +His son, for a moment, raided the Balearics, and when he died +Catalonia and Aragon, united under one crown, saw the +alien finally driven from these mountains. All the plain +from far beyond the base of the hills was now permanently +held by strong and united kingships which pressed forward +to the Ebro valley, and finally saved all the Spanish +province of Europe. A lifetime later, the last of the foreign +armies had been broken at Navas de Tolosa. Far off in the +south Islam lingered, tolerated and on sufferance, but Spain +was reconquered. For just 500 years Spain, a quarter of all +that makes up our civilization, had lain in peril between our +religion and the other.</p> + +<p>I have said that with the thirteenth century, the Albigensian +crusade upon the north, the destruction of Islam upon +the south (the two successes were contemporaneous), the +Pyrenees ceased for ever to be a march between two civilizations, +and became a mere political boundary between two +provinces of Europe; and I have said that the nature of that +boundary was finally fixed in the seventeenth century, or +rather during a period which stretches from the close of the +sixteenth to just after the middle of the seventeenth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-k" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-k.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan K.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span></p> + +<p>If that political boundary be examined to-day it will be +found to coincide with the watershed, save at certain particular +points, the character of which merits examination.</p> + +<p>I take for my boundaries, as throughout this book, Mount +Urtioga on the west, and the beginning of the Alberes on the +east, which may conveniently be placed at the Couloum.</p> + +<p>In this distance, there is a slight discrepancy between the +political boundary and the watershed here and there in the +Basque valleys. Mount Urtioga itself, though upon the watershed, +is entirely in Spain, and the sources of the torrents which +feed the valley of Baigorry all rise a mile or so beyond the +political frontier, which is here composed of two straight +conventional lines.</p> + +<p>The head waters of the Nive are wholly in Spain also, as is +all the left bank of that river to a point four miles below Val +Carlos. The right bank, however, is French, so far as the +torrent Garratono. Thence forward from the sources of that +torrent (that is, upon the Atheta) the frontier now follows the +watershed, now leaves the very head-springs of the torrents +in Spain until, a few miles further east, it makes a considerable +invasion of Spanish territory, not because the frontier itself +bends, but because the watershed here goes northward in a +half circle. All the upper valley of the Iraty is politically in +France; but from the Pic d’Orhy, where a definite ridge +begins, it follows the frontier strictly for mile after mile (with +the exception of a curious little enclave which gives Spain +two or three hundred yards of the head-waters of the Aspe), +and there is no further exception throughout all the high +Pyrenees until one strikes the curious anomaly of the <i>Val +d’Aran</i>.</p> + +<p>I have said in describing the physical structure of the +Pyrenees that the two main axes of those mountains were +joined by a sort of fault, a serpentine bridge of high land which +united them from the Sabouredo to a point ten miles northward, +the Pic de l’Homme overhanging the Pass of Bonaigo. +The valley caught on the French side of this twist is the Val +d’Aran, containing the upper waters of the French river +Garonne. Geographically of course it is French, but politically +it is Spanish so far as a certain gorge where is a bridge<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> +called the King’s Bridge, and where the Garonne pours +through a narrow gate of rock into its lower valley. The +story goes that when the Treaty of the Pyrenees was in +act of negotiation someone said diplomatically and casually +to the French negotiators, “The Val d’Aran of course you +regard as Spanish,” and they, knowing no more of these +mountains than of the mountains of the moon, said, “Of +course.” The true reason is rather that the gate in the mountains +cuts off this upper valley from the lower gorges of the +river much more than the low, easy, and grassy saddle of the +Bonaigo cuts it off from the Spanish valley of Eneou just to +the east of it: and though the Val d’Aran may be geographically +or rather hydrographically French, it is topographically +Spanish, which is as though one were to say that Almighty +God made it so.</p> + +<p>Another exception and a big one to the rule that the frontier +follows the watershed, is, of course, to be found in the French +Cerdagne. The true watershed here is coincident with the +frontier as far as the Pic de la Cabanette in latitude 42° 35′ +30″. The watershed then goes on over the Port de Saldeu, +along the crest of the Port d’Embalire to the Pic Nègre, and +there it turns to the east along the ridge across the saddle of +which goes the high road over the Col called Puymorens. +It follows that ridge, <i>not</i> to the summit of the Carlitte, but to +a lower peak called the Madides, three miles to the north-east, +runs along two miles of a high rocky ledge to the Pic de la +Madge and then there follows a difficult sort of hydrographical +No Man’s Land, the centre of which is the great marsh of +Pouillouse, nor can you tell exactly where the watershed is +for some miles in the forest below that marsh, for the same +damp flat ground sends water into the valley of the Tet and +into the valley of the Segre. Three miles to the south-west, +however, it is clearly defined again in a low rounded lump of +wooded land, it passes over the flat Col de la Perche and then +follows the crest still going south-west up to the Pic d’Eyne, +where again it becomes the frontier, and the frontier it remains +until it reaches the Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>From the Pic de la Cabanette, all the way to the Pic d’Eyne,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span> +France and Mazarin politically took in by the Treaty of the +Pyrenees a belt to the south of the watershed and extending +down to a conventional line which left Bourg-Madame French +and Puigcerdá Spanish; an exception in this is a small strip +beyond the Pic de la Cabanette, on the left bank of the Ariège, +which, though geographically French, was given to Andorra, +so that Andorra might smuggle more comfortably over the +passes.</p> + +<p>The causes of this annexation of the French Cerdagne by +Mazarin are clear enough when one remembers that the Roussillon +(which is geographically French) passed to France by +the same treaty. There is no way from the valley of the +Ariège into the Roussillon except by going round this corner +of the Cerdagne, at least no practicable carriage way; the +only other way is the difficult and high short cut described +later in this book. If the frontier be carefully noted, it will +be seen that it is designed merely to preserve a right of passage +over this road. Jurisdiction was only claimed by France over +the villages, and Llivia, being a town, stands in an island of +Spanish territory in the midst of the French Cerdagne, as +will be seen later when I speak of this district in detail.</p> + +<p>Such is the present political aspect of the Pyrenees, with +Toulouse for their great French town in the plains, 60 miles +away to the north, Saragossa for their great Spanish town in +the plains, 100 miles away to the south, a string of towns just +at their feet (Bayonne, Pau, Tarbes, St. +Girons, etc.) on the northern side; on the +south a rarer and less connected group +(Pamplona, Huesca, Barbastro, Lerida, +etc.); and against the Mediterranean +the district of Gerona, shut in by the +Sierra del Cadi (with its outposts) and +the Alberes upon the Spanish side, the +town of Gerona its capital; the Roussillon, +with Perpignan for its capital, shut +in between the Alberes and the Corbieres +on the French side.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp46" id="illus05" style="max-width: 15.625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus05.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="III">III<br> +<span class="smaller">MAPS</span></h2> + +</div> + +<p>One of the first ideas that come to a man when he thinks +of wandering about an unknown bit of country is +that it will be more fun if he does not take a map. +There are places of which this is true: you discover for yourself, +and it is more exciting. But it is not true of the Pyrenees. +So little is it true of the Pyrenees that those who have +no maps, that is, the local peasantry, never traverse a country +until they know it well, and when they get into new country +learn all they can from its inhabitants, get themselves accompanied +if possible, and keep to a path. You will find that +the hunters who know the mountains are always local men. +The Pyrenees are built in such a fashion and on such a scale +that you not only can, but must, lose yourself in the course +of any long wandering unless you have some sort of guide to +your hand. There is only one kind of travel off the road +which you can possibly undertake without a map, and that +will be pottering about one small district with a porter, a +friend, or a mule to carry a tent and plenty of provisions; +but if you are attempting several crossings of the ridges, and +especially if you are attempting such a task on foot, a map is +absolutely necessary to you.</p> + +<p>Whatever kind of map you take with you into the hills, you +must also take with you a small compass, and that is why I +mention that toy later in talking of equipment. You are +perpetually asking yourself, as you compare the map with the +landscape, which peak is which, and it is often essential to +get the right one on the right bearings. Nothing is easier +than to mistake one part of a ridge for another.</p> + +<p>If you are in bad weather or in the dark or enclosed, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> +compass gives you a general direction, as for instance upon the +track I describe later in the great wood going to Formiguères, +and the compass further tells you at what point your valley +begins to turn in a certain direction. Now a bend of this sort +is very often the only indication you have for the exact place +in which to branch off for a port, or to look for a cabane. +Remember the variation, which is on the average for this +range about 14 degrees, that is, the true north is 14 degrees +to the right of the direction the needle points to.</p> + +<p>A map or maps, then, you must determine to take, and it +next remains to examine what sort of maps are available for +the whole range.</p> + +<p>There are but three of the greater countries in the whole +world (to my knowledge, at least) which have sufficient and +numerous maps, these are England, France, and Germany. +I can imagine what reproach and criticism such a statement +may bring from those who know the admirable work done in +India, and the special but laborious surveys of Italy and of +the United States. But I do say (as far as my travels extend) +that maps valuable for the purposes of a man on foot and +covering a whole country are confined to these three among the +greater states. To tell the truth, there is but one large country +that possesses perfect ones, and that is our own. Nowhere else +in the world (to my knowledge, at least) has a complete survey +of every detail of the soil been made, as it has been made +under the Crown of the United Kingdom. And if foreigners +judge, as they are apt to judge, of our cartography by the +excellent one-inch scale map alone, they should remember +that we also possess the six-inch, and in some cases the twenty-five +inch to supplement it. Neither France nor Germany +can boast of such a survey.</p> + +<p>Now let me abandon this digression and discuss what maps +are valuable in the Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>First, upon the Spanish side, there is nothing. Every one who +tries to get a good cartographical indication of the approaches +to the Pyrenees upon the Spanish side is baffled. Outside of +my own experience, I have heard of many attempts and they +have all failed. There is indeed a legend of a wonderful<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> +military map in Madrid or elsewhere, but I have never seen +it, nor have I ever seen anyone who has seen it. There is a +good contour map extending outwards from Madrid in various +sections, but it does not get anywhere near the Pyrenees. +There is a geological map of Spain upon which some people +fall back in despair, but it tells you very little about Spain +except the geology. It is on an extremely large scale, 1/400,000 if +I remember right, and it is horrible to have to use it even for +the most general purposes of travel.</p> + +<p>There is a large general map of Spain, drawn in Germany, +which is equally useless for the pedestrian; it comprises the +whole country within a space that could easily be hung over +the chimney-piece of a small room.</p> + +<p>In a word, there is no map of Spain for the foot traveller +upon the Spanish side. Everything of that kind which exists +so far is (I again qualify the statement by adding “to my +knowledge”) of French workmanship.</p> + +<p>It is therefore the French maps which the traveller must +consider, and I will detail these in their order with their +respective advantages.</p> + +<p>It must first be remarked that these maps are to be regarded +as official and unofficial; the official ones should be divided +into those proceeding from the French War Office and those +proceeding from the French Home Office. The importance +of this will appear in a moment.</p> + +<p>Of the unofficial maps (which are very numerous) the most +important by far is that published and printed by Schrader, +and this is important only because it gives contours (at rather +large intervals, it is true) on the Spanish side as well as upon +the French.</p> + +<p>The map can be ordered of Messrs. Sifton & Praed, The +Map House, St. James’s Street, and costs (pre-war) twelve +shillings for the six sheets. Its value consists in giving the +traveller details of all the difficult central bit between Sallent +and the Encantados. The French contours, as will immediately +appear, are easily obtainable elsewhere; but to know +the Spanish side, the difficulties of the way between Panticosa +(for instance) and Bielsa, Schrader’s map is a great advantage;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> +it is final on the heights, the steepness, and the changes in +direction of the way.</p> + +<p>The official maps consist <i>first</i> of the War Office maps, the +scale of which is 1/80,000 and 1/320,000.</p> + +<p>The first thing to appreciate with regard to the French maps, +is that all of them, whether from the Home Office or from the +War Office (and in a country such as France the work of these +two departments is very different), are based upon the 1/80,000 +survey. It was this survey, undertaken by the General Staff +in the course of the nineteenth century, which formed the +basis of every other map that Frenchmen use. Certain of its +early details were slightly inaccurate, as the heights of the +Pelvoux group in Savoy, which Mr. Whymper, when he +climbed those mountains, corrected. It is, however, the best +monument of cartography left by the nineteenth century. +Nothing has since appeared to rival it in any country upon the +same scale. We must except of course the highly detailed +large-scale survey of special districts, which may happen to +be, by a political accident, autonomous and wealthy. +Belgium has a far better map, upon which indeed all modern +work upon the Belgian battlefields is based. Switzerland also +has a better map. But no such large area as that of the +French Republic has upon so small a scale (much less than one +inch to the mile), so complete a record of every track, wood, +habitation, height, and watercourse.</p> + +<p>The 1/320,000 is merely a reduction of this map; it is of service +to people who motor or bicycle, to anyone who uses the high +road, and who wishes to be able occasionally to wander into +by-paths; but for little local details and difficulties it should +not be consulted. It is useful advice to anyone who desires +to know the Pyrenees that he should consult before leaving +home a map of the whole range upon the 1/320,000 scale, but travel +in the hills with the 1/80,000 scale.</p> + +<p>The disadvantage, however, of the military map, accurate +though it is, and full of detail though it is, lies in two points +inseparable from the early conditions under which it was +produced; the first of these is the use of one colour, that of +printers’ ink, so that the line marking a stream, a wall, or a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> +path are similar; the second derives from this, and is the confusion +of so many small details, all in <i>one</i> colour and in black. +There are no contour lines. The hatching, though bold, does +not give exact heights, save where such heights are marked +in figures, and what with the lines marking the paths in mountainous +districts, the water-courses, the roads, the marks +indicating the rocks, habitations, etc., the 1/80,000 map tends +(though it still remains the best map for a very careful student, +e.g., for a soldier on manœuvres) to be somewhat crowded and +confused.</p> + +<p>An appreciation of the demerits of these maps, and perhaps +a certain rivalry between the two departments, led the French +Home Office to undertake an Ordnance Map of its own. This +map is in various scales, of which the sheets showing the +Pyrenees—the only ones that concern us—are in 1/100,000 and +1/200,000. Let me explain the general qualities of both and the +advantages and disadvantages attaching to either of these.</p> + +<p>Both are in colours, giving water-courses and lakes in blue, +woods in green, roads in red, etc., and that is an enormous +and immediate simplification upon the old-fashioned black +map.</p> + +<p>Both are brought up to date with more care than the +military map; both are less crowded with detail, and both +indicate such civilian necessities as the telephone, telegraph, +post-office, etc. On the other hand, neither contains hatching—the +only true way of representing a country-side to the +eye—and neither give that minute and exact multiplicity +of markings which it is the boast of the military map to afford. +The civil map is more practical, the military map more full +of duty and more accurate.</p> + +<p>It must finally be remembered that the scale of the civil +maps, even of 1/100,000 is so small as to impede the setting down +of details such as we have on a one-inch Ordnance Map. It is +three to four times smaller superficially than our official map +in England. Nevertheless, for reasons that I shall presently +show, it is on the whole the best map to carry in the Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>The 1/200,000 map is but a reproduction on a smaller scale of +the 1/100,000 map. It has the great advantage of contour lines,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span> +but the scale is so small and the contours so pressed together, +that, though it is invaluable for giving a general and plastic +impression of the chain (to look down on a general map of +the Pyrenees on this scale is like looking down on a model of +the French side of the range), it is of little use for telling one, +as a contour map should tell one, exactly how much higher +this spot is than that other spot. When you are climbing +and you wish to identify your position, you have usually to +estimate comparative heights on a delicate scale and at a short +distance, for which the 1/200,000 map is of very little use to you.</p> + +<p>One way of using the contours of the 1/200,000 which is laborious, +but not without value, is to trace the <i>deeper</i> contour lines in +some particular district, which you are specially studying. +These deeper contour lines stand out much more clearly than +the intermediate faint ones, which, as I have said, are too +numerous for a mountain district. They can be followed +clearly even in the dark shading of a steep ridge, and are set +every hundred metres apart. When such a tracing has been +made, neglecting the finer intermediate lines, you have a good +working relief plan of the mountain you propose to deal with.</p> + +<p>Of all the area open to the climber and the man on foot in the +Pyrenees, that upon the Spanish side of the frontier is the +larger and wilder, and this for two reasons. First, because +property and its attendant limitations is more developed upon +the northern slope, so that the vast areas common to all, are, +if anything, vaster upon the southern side, and secondly, +that the formation of the range between the ramparts above +the Ebro and the main chain, covers a larger space than that +between the main chain and the French plains. Yet, as I +have just said, it is on the Spanish side that proper maps are +lacking, and one must do the best one can to supplement them +by the French extensions.</p> + +<p>A common plan guides all the French maps in their delineation +of territory south of the frontier. Colours, contour lines, +hatching, and every detail are omitted. Heights are given +in certain cases (but those are rarer of course than on the +French side). The names of towns and, in some cases, their +telegraphic and postal communications are marked, but upon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> +the whole the Spanish side upon the French maps has far less +detail than is accorded for the territory to which the maps +directly relate.</p> + +<p>However, let me explain the various advantages and disadvantages, +for use upon the Spanish side, of the four types of +French maps I have mentioned.</p> + +<p>The 1/320,000 of the Ministry of War may be neglected; whatever +use it has upon the French side, it is negligible upon the +Spanish.</p> + +<p>The 1/80,000 map of the Ministry of War marks the main water-courses +upon the Spanish side, the main peaks, and the main +important ports and cols, with their heights, but it does not +afford any indication of the shape of the country. It is a bare +white space of paper with but few lines traversing it, one or +two names, and one or two numbers on each sheet.</p> + +<p>On the whole it is better not to use the French military maps +for the Spanish side; here it is the maps of the Ministry of +the Interior which must chiefly be relied upon. Of these the +1/100,000 map is the best. It is true that the colours, which are +so valuable in the differentiation of the French side, are absent +upon the Spanish, save in the case of water-courses, which are +marked in blue upon either slope of the range. There is no +indication of woods upon the Spanish side, as there is upon the +French, and as this indication is useful for purposes of +camping, the loss of it on the south side is often felt. Moreover, +the absence of colour upon the Spanish side often makes +one misinterpret the nature of the mountains upon these maps, +giving to the whole a bare look, since the rocky and bare spaces +on the French side are similarly left uncovered. On the other +hand, the 1/100,000 French map does afford upon the Spanish side +a very large number of detailed points of information. I will +enumerate them in their order.</p> + +<p>1. The general shape of the country is indicated by +shading, the light being supposed to come (as is the case +throughout this series of maps) from the north-west.</p> + +<p>2. Steep rocks and cliffs, the presence of which should +always be indicated to the traveller, are carefully marked upon +either side of the frontier.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span></p> + +<p>3. Paths, the importance of which the reader will presently +appreciate, are clearly marked, with all details, as exactly as +on the French side.</p> + +<p>4. Every habitation is marked, and in the case of villages +and towns, the number of inhabitants, the postal and other +facilities.</p> + +<p>5. Most of the heights are marked, though not so many +as on the northern slope, but at any rate the height of every +important port, col, and peak appears. In general, it may be +said that there is no map of the Pyrenees, immediately to the +south of the frontier, equivalent to those of the districts which +happen to fall within the French 1/100,000 survey.</p> + +<p>This leads me to the principal drawback connected with the +use of the French 1/100,000 map upon the Spanish side, which is, +that it only includes such Spanish territory as accidentally +happens to fall within each square blocked out in the French +survey.</p> + +<p>The English reader is acquainted, it may be presumed, with +the one-inch Ordnance Map, and he will have remarked, how, +if it so happens that a little corner of land escapes the regular +series of rectangles into which the one-inch Ordnance Map is +divided, that little corner of land will have a map all to itself, +though the greater part of the rectangular space so marked +may be taken up by the sea. In the same way any little bit +of French territory which projects beyond the scheme of +rectangles into which the whole survey is divided, has, added +to it, an outer part completing the map and extending into +Spain; where (as for instance on the sheet called “Gavarnie”) +the little piece of French territory so projecting is small in +comparison with the whole rectangle, a considerable piece of +Spanish territory will be included; but where (as for instance +on the sheet called “Bayonne”) the frontier very nearly +corresponds with the survey, very little of the Spanish side +will be included.</p> + +<p>From this it is easy to perceive that the maximum amount of +Spanish territory in any one map must be inferior either in width +or in length to the full dimensions of each sheet, and that the +total distance into Spain, which any one sheet can mark, south<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> +of the frontier, is less than the width of any one sheet. Now +each sheet of the French 1/100,000 map includes 15 minutes of a +degree from north to south, that is, about 17 miles. One may +say, therefore, that the amount of Spanish territory shown to +the south of the frontier in this excellent survey is always less +than one full day’s journey. In many parts it narrows to +far less than this. There are not a few parts of the range where +even for those who make but short excursions on to the +Spanish side, this drawback is of considerable effect. For +instance, in the easy and pleasant excursion which takes one +from Andorra to Urgel, the 1/100,000 map cuts one short at 42° +30′ below Andorra, and 42° 15′ beyond the main road to +Urgel, and no small part of the road lies south or west of this +limitation.</p> + +<p>The 1/200,000 map somewhat makes up for the deficiency of +the 1/100,000 map, but not in a complete manner. The frontier +sections of this survey (five in number) show Spanish territory +to the extent of some 30 miles in the Basque country, they give +but a tiny corner of the extreme east of the territory of Aragon, +they give over 30 miles for the greater part of the north of that +province, but in Catalonia the belt is restricted to far less. +Moreover, the Spanish details afforded are much slighter than +in the 1/100,000. There is no indication of the relief of the country, +no shading, only the principal water-courses and the principal +highways and mule roads are marked. But it is here that the +1/200,000 is useful, if one has the intention of walking for some days +upon the Spanish side. Thus the direction from Castellbo +in Catalonia to Esterri can be roughly drawn upon the 1/200,000 +and will not be discovered so clearly in any other survey.</p> + +<p>It now remains to sum up the respective advantages of +these four maps for the general purposes of travel, and to +give a few comments upon the uses of each.</p> + +<p>The 1/320,000 military map will not be of great use to the +traveller. It can only show him the main roads if he is motoring +or cycling, and present him with a general view of the +country for which the clearer 1/200,000 map will serve his purpose +better.</p> + +<p>The 1/80,000 military map is the best for minute details, and if<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> +a man desires to ramble off and explore some special districts +of this great range, it is the 1/80,000 map which will be of most +use to him, though its value will be supplemented and greatly +extended by using it in conjunction with the colour 1/100,000 map +of the Ministry of the Interior or Home Office.</p> + +<p>This last, as the reader will have seen, is the staple map, +upon which every form of travel depends. If no other be +purchased, this at least is always indispensable.</p> + +<p>It is well here to summarize briefly certain points in the +reading of this map, which do not immediately appear on one’s +first acquaintance with it.</p> + +<p>First, the map is on too small a scale to show a certain +number of features, which, though unimportant in the general +landscape, are essential to the traveller on foot. This is true +of rocks, for instance; open rock, extending over a considerable +surface, will always be marked, but hidden ledges, +especially small ones, are more often not marked, and this +may lead to disaster if one trusts the map too exactly. For +instance, in the sheet numbered xi. 37, a range will be seen +rising to the left of the main road, which bisects the map from +north to south: I mean the range running from the Spanish +frontier to the Pic-du-Ger. This ridge is intersected by two +profound valleys, and the whole of it is a mass of greater or +smaller limestone ledges, more or less masked in the density of +the forests. Yet it is impossible to indicate these on such a +scale, save here and there by sharp hatching. These limestone +ledges are in this particular case such, that unless one knows +the paths extremely well, it is impossible to cross the ridge at +all, but one would have no idea of that from merely consulting +the map. On the other hand, every rivulet, however small, +is distinctly marked, and that is something of a guide when +one has tried to ascertain one’s position in a valley. This map +has a further advantage of marking in the clearest way the +paths by which the various ports are approached, and after +a considerable use of it in many places, I can say that when +you have lost the path, the indication afforded you by the +1/100,000 map is invariably right—upon the French side. However +unreasonably the line seems to acting upon the map, if it lies<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> +to the left of a stream, or beneath a particularly clearly marked +rock, then it is to the left of that stream, or beneath that rock +that you must cast about if you want to find it, and if you +find another path in another direction, you may be certain it +is but a random track, which will mislead you, however clearly +it may appear for the moment. When, in first using these +maps, my companions and I neglected such information, it +invariably led to trouble. For instance, in the lower crossings +of the Sousquéou, the map gives the path everywhere on the +north, or right bank of the stream. There is a spot just before +the first rocky “gate” of this ravine where all indication of +further travel upon the right bank disappears, and on the +contrary a fine-made path crosses over by a strong bridge to +the further or left bank. We thought the map must be in +error, and crossed by the bridge, with the result that we spent +a whole day cut off by a bad spate from the further side, +and were for some hours in peril; for the bridge once crossed, +this false path disappeared within half a mile. If we had +pinned ourselves to the map, kept to the north bank, and cast +about in circles, we should have found the path again but a +hundred yards or so further on, running precisely as it was +indicated on the survey. The importance of the 1/100,000 map in +thus giving all tracks accurately will hardly appear to the +reader unused to the Pyrenees, but it will be seen clearly +enough when we come later to speak of travel upon foot in +the mountains.</p> + +<p>It is a defect of the 1/100,000 map that heights, though accurately +marked, cannot always be as accurately referred to the +exact spots standing near the figures. This is because the +heights are marked in pale blue ink, and the ambiguity is +accentuated by that absence of contour lines which is the chief +fault of the series. The method of marking is to point a +small blue point close to the figures, and this dot marks the +exact spot to which the figures refer. Where the figures are +printed in a white space, and where there are no other features +to interfere with them, this small blue spot is plain enough, +but where they come upon woodland or steep shading, or +other print, it is almost impossible to discover the dot. Thus,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> +for instance, in the xi. 37 sheet to which allusion has just been +made, a little lake will be found right upon latitude 42° 50′, +just before its intersection with longitude 2° 40′. The height +of this lake is given as 2170 metres, and the small blue point +to which that altitude exactly refers is unmistakably marked +at the southern extremity of the lake; but immediately to +the right of those very figures, one of the highest peaks of the +Pyrenees, the Bat Lactouse, marked 3146 metres, presents no +point of which one can be certain. The frontier happens to +cross this peak, and the little blue spot has got lost in the +chain of black dots marking the frontier and in the print of the +name of the mountain.</p> + +<p>As a general rule, however, if you are in doubt as to what a +figure may refer to, you are pretty safe in referring it to a peak, +rather than to a pass or a group of houses in the neighbourhood. +I have said that the accuracy of the map is undoubted +for the French side; it is less certain upon the Spanish, where +indeed its accuracy is not guaranteed. It is the best map to +use upon the Spanish side (save for that restricted district +over which Schrader’s contour map applies), but do not, upon +the Spanish side, take the map against the evidence of +your senses, as you will be wise always to do upon the +French side. The map is notably wrong upon the Spanish +side where unfinished works are concerned; it is not revised +with the same frequency and care as upon the French side; +for instance, the big new road from Sallent up to the French +frontier goes in long winding zigzags, which make the total +distance between eight and nine miles. The 1/100,000 map marks +it in dots as though it were not finished, makes it far straighter +than it is, and thus reduces the distance by nearly half.</p> + +<p>Finally, the 1/200,000 map gives the best bird’s-eye view of the +whole district, and is the only one showing contours, and +penetrating further upon the Spanish side than any other. +It will be my advice to those who desire to take a walking tour +of some length in various parts of the range, to equip themselves +with the whole set of the 1/200,000 maps (5 sheets), with the +whole of the 1/100,000 map, but only with such of the 1/800,000 (the +uncoloured map of the Ministry of War) as cover small districts<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> +of the nature of which one is in doubt. Those, on the +other hand, who purpose spending their time in one or two +valleys only, should, without fail, purchase the sheets of the +1/100,000 survey covering that district, and would do very well to +add to these all the corresponding sheets of the 1/80,000 survey.</p> + +<p>With these remarks, most that can be usefully told to my +readers with regard to the maps of the Pyrenees has been told +them, but perhaps a few final notes will not be without their +use, thus: The English traveller must always remember that +none of these maps comes up to the English one-inch Ordnance +for accuracy and detail—the scale forbids this. Next, let +him remember that the dates of revision of each map will +differ, as do the dates of revision of ordnance maps in every +country. For instance, I have before me, as I write, the 1/200,000 +of Luz, purchased in this year (1908); no date of revision is +attached to it, but the new road (which is at present an excellent +carriage road, one of the best in Europe, up the Gallego +to the French frontier) is marked, at first as a lane, afterwards +as a mule track. On the 1/100,000 (Laruns sheet), purchasable +this year, the new road is marked as existing for traffic, but +not fully completed beyond a point about three miles from the +frontier, and its true form is not given but merely indicated. +It is evident that these sheets were revised at different times +(the Laruns sheet bears a date six years old), and that we must +always take the later of any two impressions, if we can obtain +it. The highways of the Pyrenees upon the French side especially, +both by road and by rail, are being extended with such +rapidity that every year makes a difference to the accuracy +of the information conveyed.</p> + +<p>It remains to enumerate with their titles the maps covering +the district: in England they may be most easily obtained from +Messrs. Sifton & Praed, The Map House, St. James’s Street. +This firm provides the 1/200,000 for the whole chain of the Pyrenees +range mounted on canvas, the most useful map perhaps for +motoring and cycling. Any sheet of the 1/100,000 can also be +obtained from them, as all are kept in stock, but by far the +most convenient form in which to carry them is to have them +folded in the stiff cover issued by the French Government:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> +to get them in this form, a few days’ notice in London will be +needed. From the same firm the military maps can be procured +in a similar manner, but I do not know whether all are +kept in stock as a regular thing.</p> + +<p>In ordering the sheets of the 1/200,000 (if one does not purchase +them as a whole), reference is made not to numbers, but to +names. There are five sheets, “Bayonne,” “Tarbes,” +“Luz,” “Foix,” and “Perpignan,” the price of which in +England is 10<i>s.</i>; the whole series can also be purchased +mounted.</p> + +<p>The sheets of the 1/100,000 map may be referred to either by the +names of their central towns, or by the index number of the +series in which they are printed. It is difficult to say what +numbers of these maps exactly cover the range, unless one +knows how far from the watershed towards the plain the +traveller intends to go. The smallest number sufficient to +cover the actual watershed and the highest peaks is 16, or, +for the whole frontier, 17. These sheets are by name (going +from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, from west to east), +St. Jean-de-Luz, Bayonne, St. Jean Pied-de-Port, Mauléon, +Ste. Engrace, Laruns, Luz, Gavarnie, Bagnères-de-Luchon, +Val-d’Arouge, St. Girons, Mont Rouch, Perles, Ax-les-Thermes, +Saillagouse, Ceret, and Banyuls. Referring to +their numbers in the series upon the index map, they are +respectively viii. 35, ix. 35, ix. 36, x. 36, x. 37, xi. 37, xii. 37, +xii. 38, xiii. 37, xiii. 38, xiv. 37, xiv. 38, xv. 38, xvi. 38, xvi. +39, xvii. 39, and xviii. 39. It will be observed that in the +index map of the 1/100,000 series, the divisions running from north +to south are marked in Roman numerals, those from east to +west in Arabic numerals, and that the gradual increase in +Arabic numerals from 35 to 39, corresponds to the gradual +trend southward of the Pyrenean chain from the Atlantic to +the Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>Very few of my readers will be concerned with the main +crest of the range alone; it will therefore be necessary to add +to that list northward of the frontier (the lower Arabic +numerals) the further sheet according to the district each may +have chosen to travel in. A certain number of extra sheets<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> +are necessary to those who travel in the main chain only, for +instance, “Perles” (xv. 38) includes within the limits of its +sheet the frontier upon either side, but this frontier so nearly +approaches the northern limits in one spot, that it will be +quite impossible to travel in this part until we also add the +sheet “Foix” (xv. 37), to the north of it. Even the little lake +of Garbet, which is not three miles from the crest of the range, +is half out of the map and half in.</p> + +<p>Those who desire a complete collection of all the sheets of +the 1/100,000 survey, extending from the furthest mountain over +the Spanish side up on the foothills into the French plain, may +remark the following lists: in series viii. 35; in series ix. 35 +and 36; in series x. 35, 36, and 37; in series xi. 35, 36, and +37; in series xii. 36, 37, and 38; in series xiii. 36, 37, and 38; +in series xiv. 37 and 38; in series xv. 37 and 38; in series +xvi. 37, 38, and 39; in series xvii. 38 and 39; in series xviii. +39; in all twenty-five sheets will cover the mountainous region +in this survey, and anyone who desires a complete map of the +French Pyrenees, with as much of the Spanish side as the +survey includes, should possess them all.</p> + +<p>Schrader’s map is in six sheets upon the scale of 1/100,000 and +with contours. It is essentially a climber’s map. Detailed +maps of special districts of course exist in many shapes, but +they must be sought for in the periodical reviews, and in monographs +in which they have appeared. Finally, it may interest +the reader to know that in the Casino of Bagnères-de-Luchon +he may inspect a fully detailed relief map of the whole range +on a scale somewhat larger than one inch to a mile, though the +inspection of it rather satisfies curiosity than affords any guide +to travel.</p> + +<p>Schrader’s map is of the greatest value for one particular +piece of touring, which I shall describe later in these pages. +Meanwhile it may be as well to add a further note upon it +here. It is by far the best, so far as it goes, of all the Pyrenean +maps; it is due to private enterprise, and if the whole range +had been done in the same way there would be no need to +discuss any other type, it would amply suffice for all purposes. +Unfortunately, whereas the range, within the limits laid down<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> +in this book, stretches in length from a degree east of Paris +to nearly four degrees west of that meridian, covering, that is, +four or five degrees of longitude, and stretches in latitude from +43° 25′ to at least 42°, Schrader’s survey covers only 1½° in +longitude (namely, from 1° 10′ west of Paris to 2° 40′), and in +latitude extends over no more than half a degree, namely, from +42° 20′ to 42° 50′.</p> + +<p>As the reader may see by comparing these bearings with a +general map, Schrader’s map is intended to include no more +than the very high Pyrenean peaks: it is the result of many +years of careful individual survey, begun before the war of +1870 and carried on to quite the last few years.</p> + +<p>Like the French Home Office map, it is in the scale of 1/100,000, +and, like it, it is printed in colours, but unlike the Home +Office map, it shows the invaluable feature <i>of contours</i>. You +have an exact plan of the country before you, and in clear +weather, with the aid of this map, you can fall into no error in +connexion with the relief of the land. The contours are at +some distance, at 100 metres or 328 feet apart, but this in such +country is an advantage; indeed, the cramping of the closer +contours on the official 1/200,000 map, greatly detracts from their +usefulness. Not only are contours marked, but all rocky +places are given with the greatest care, and the impression of +relief is helped by shading as well as contour lines. The only +drawback of the map, apart from its restricted area, lies in the +absence of any indication of woods. As to the steepness, to +which woods are often a guide, his contours amply make up +for the deficiency, but for camping it affords you no indication. +On the other hand, all cabanes and all paths are very clearly +marked.</p> + +<p>All heights and distances with which you will have to do in +these hills upon either side are marked in metres, save in the +popular talk, which measures distances by the time taken to +traverse them. With this I shall deal in a moment. Let me +first deal with what is a constant source of trouble to Englishmen +on the Continent, the turning of the metrical system of +measure into its English equivalent.</p> + +<p>There are two ways of doing this. One is the application<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> +of quite easy and rough rules of thumb, the other is the more +complicated process which aims at a fairly high degree of +accuracy. It is the first of these of course which most people +will want to know, and there are two simple rules, one for +heights and one for distances.</p> + +<p>The rule for heights is, divide by 3, shift the decimal point +one place to the right, and you have the height in English +feet, <i>within a certain limit of error</i>, which I shall presently +detail.</p> + +<p>The rule of thumb as applied to measures of distance is to +take the number of kilometres (a kilometre is 1000 metres, and +is, as one may say, the French mile), divide by 8, and multiply +by 5, and you have the corresponding number of English miles +<i>within a certain limit of error</i>, which I shall describe presently.</p> + +<p>For all ordinary purposes these two rules are sufficient, +though in both cases they somewhat exaggerate. They make +a French distance measured in English miles a little too far, +and a French height, measured in English feet, a trifle too +high.</p> + +<p>The exact constant of error is, in the case of the heights, +1.6 feet in every 100. Thus if your rough calculation gave you +a height of 10,160 feet, the exact height ought to be just +10,000; you see upon the map in the blue figures referring to +metres, “3048” (which happens by the way to be within two +steps of the height of the Bac Lactous). You divide by 3, +add a 0, and get 10,160, and you know by the constant of +error that the true height is just exactly 10,000 feet.</p> + +<p>The knowledge of this constant gives us a rough-and-ready +method of getting a height within a very small degree of accuracy, +and for any purposes where such accuracy is required, I +recommend it. It consists in cutting off the last three figures, +multiplying what is left by 4, and then again by 4, and subtracting +that from your first rough calculation. It sounds +complicated, but it does not take half a minute, and you will +be well within two feet of any height; for most heights you +are likely to calculate, you will be right within a few inches.</p> + +<p>For instance, you see 2403, in blue figures upon the map +dividing by 3 and shifting your decimal point, you at once<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span> +get 8010; there is your rough calculation, which you know to +be a trifle in excess of the truth. Cut off the last three figures +and you have left 8, multiply 8 by 4, and then again by 4, +and you have 128 as the amount of your error. The peak is +by this calculation 7882 feet high, and rough as the rule is +you are within 20 inches of the truth: the exact height of such +a peak in English feet is 7883.7624....</p> + +<p>However, if you want absolute accuracy, multiply the +French measure by 3.2808992, and you will be sufficiently +near the truth to save your soul.</p> + +<p>As to distances, the exact proportion of error, when you +turn miles into kilometres by dividing by eight and multiplying +by 5, is 2 inches or so short of 50 feet too much in every +mile; when, therefore, you are dealing with a hundred miles, +you are very nearly, but not quite a mile out in this form of +calculation. The error is, within a very small fraction, 1%.</p> + +<p>If therefore you want an easy rule for turning your rough +calculation into an accurate one, you cut off the last two figures +and subtract from your total the figures thus left. For +instance, 244 kilometres divided by 8 gives 30½, and that +multiplied by 5 is 152.5; cut off the 52, leaving “1” on the +left, subtract that 1 (making 151.5), and you are within a few +yards of accuracy. As questions of distance count nothing +in mountains compared with questions of height, I will make +no mention of decimals, but proceed to a very different matter, +which is the way of counting that the <i>mountaineers</i> have, and +this you will do well to heed blindly.</p> + +<p>When you are tired and distracted and wondering perhaps +whether you can push on, if you have the good luck to find a +shepherd, he will tell you your distance to such and such a +place in <i>hours</i>. The Spanish, the Gascon, the Béarnais, and +the Catalan dialects all use the same words, so far as sound +goes, for this kind of measure, and the Basque will never +speak to you in Basque: it is part of the Basque tenacity +never to do this. So if you find yourself in any part of the +high hills where a man can talk to you of distances, you +always hear the same sounds “Dos Oras,” “Quart’ Ora,” +“Mi’ Ora,” and the rest. This habit, as every reader knows,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> +is universal throughout the world wherever true peasants +exist; but in mountains, whether they be Welsh or African, +it is not only universal, but it withstands all the invasion of +the modern world.</p> + +<p>What I would particularly impress upon anyone going into +the Pyrenees is this, that such a method of counting is exceedingly +accurate, and is moreover the only accurate method. +Nothing is more fatal to a civilized man of the plains than to +take his little measuring stick and measure upon the map by +the scale the distance between two points, saying, “It will +take me so many hours.” There was a Basque at Ste. Engrace +who very well expressed to me the contempt which +mountaineers have for that method of the plains. A deputy +of the French Parliament had stopped in his inn, had thus +measured the distance from the village to the pass, and would +not believe that it could take three hours. It always takes +exactly three hours. I have done it in four by careful dawdling, +and the dawdling, when I came to reckon it up, had taken +exactly one hour out of the four. Now, measured upon the +map, that distance, as the crow flies, is precisely three miles, +but it takes three hours none the less. You will not do it in +less, and what is odder, you can hardly do it in more, for if you +deliberately go too slowly, you are done for in no time, and if +you halt, you will find that your halt fits in exactly to make +the walking time three hours. Similarly, over the Pourtalet, +from the last Spanish hamlet to the first French one, is six +hours; part of the way you may choose between a good road +and a mule track, but whichever you choose it is six hours; +and there is nothing more astonishing in Pyrenean travel than +the accuracy of this rough method. As I said just now, you +must heed it blindly; it is by far your best guide.</p> + +<p>The use of maps has one last thing to be said about it, which +applies particularly to the Schrader map and to the 1/100,000, and +this is that where you think you see a short cut, and the map +gives you no track, there the short cut is to be avoided. I +say it applies particularly to the Schrader and 1/100,000, because +these two maps are so particular in detail that you think their +information must be enough without the further aid of a path.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> +Moreover, the path sometimes takes such apparently needless +turns that you are for escaping it by an easier cut.</p> + +<p>You will never succeed. You may indeed succeed in a bit +of exceptionally hard climbing, you may not lose your life, +but you will most certainly wish that you had never attempted +the unmarked crossing of the ridge you have attacked. It is +obvious that the exception to this doctrine would be found +in a piece of genuine experiment. If you say to yourself for +instance, “I can get over the shoulder of the Pic d’Anie into +the valley of the rivulet beyond, which has no name, but which +runs into the Tarn of Uterdineta,” you will probably do it, +but it will not be a short cut from the Val d’Aspe into the +valley of Isaba, though it is the shortest way. These temptations +for cutting across the hills come very often in one’s first +experiments in the Pyrenees: they get less frequent as one +knows more of them. These mountains are full of vengeance, +and hate to be disturbed.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<div class="footnote"> +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—A convenient map for viewing the whole range is the 1/400,000 +which is sold by Messrs. Sifton & Praed, mounted in two sheets, +and in a case. It is especially of use in showing a large belt of the +Spanish side. Motorists in particular should see it.</p> + +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="IV">IV<br> +<span class="smaller">THE ROAD SYSTEM OF THE PYRENEES</span></h2> + +</div> + +<figure class="figleft illowp75" id="illus06" style="max-width: 25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus06.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>There are two +kinds of platforms +for travel +in the Pyrenees—mule +tracks and great, +highly engineered, +modern roads. No +others exist. When, +therefore, one is describing +travel in the +Pyrenees, one must +separately describe the +opportunities of wheeled travel open to all vehicles, +however elaborate, and of travel on foot or with a +mule. As the last will take up the greater part of my space, +I will speak of wheeled travel first.</p> + +<p>To understand what are the opportunities of this, one may +take as one’s standard the roads which can be traversed by a +motor car. Those passages which a motor car cannot use +cannot be used by a bicycle or a carriage, for the roads of the +Pyrenees are, as I have said, either very good broad roads, well +graded, and with a hard surface, or they do not exist; the +change is always abrupt throughout the chain from an excellent +highway, carefully engineered, to a mule track.</p> + +<p>The scheme of Pyrenean roads, as it exists now, is, briefly, +<i>first</i>: a couple of great lateral roads on the French side, which +may be called the upper and the lower road; <i>next</i>, four roads +traversing the chain (six if you count the roads along the sea-coast +at either end, which I omit—the one goes by St. Jean +de Luz, the other by the Pass of Lacleuse or La Perthuis);<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span> +<i>thirdly</i>, a series of roads, numerous on the French side, rare on +the Spanish, which penetrate the valleys but do not cross the +chain, and end at a greater or less distance from the watershed.</p> + +<p>The main lateral road from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, +along the base of the Pyrenees, links up all the towns +upon the plains; it joins Bayonne to Pau, Pau to Tarbes, +Tarbes to St. Gaudens, and so on through St. Girons, Foix, +and Quillan to Perpignan: this may be called <i>the Lower +Road</i>. The upper road has been but recently completed. +It is made up of sections, some of which are old highways, +some links quite newly built, and the characteristic of the +whole is that it skirts as nearly as possible the crest of the main +chain, crossing at some places very high passes over the lateral +ridges, and everywhere keeping right up against the high +summits of the range. The whole line runs from Perpignan +over the Col de la Perche up the Val Carol and over the +Puymorens to Ax, Tarascon, and St. Girons. At St. Girons, +it is compelled by the conformation of the country to touch +the lower road, but it leaves it at once to pass from Fronsac +to Luchon; thence through Arreau, Luz, Argelès, Laruns, +Oloron, and Mauléon—all the high mountain towns—to St. +Jean Pied-de-Port, and thence back again to Bayonne.</p> + +<p>The four roads over the ridge into Spain lie all of them on +the western side of the hills. They are, first, the road through +the Baztan valley, which connects Bayonne with Pamplona; +secondly, the Roman road over Roncesvalles, 12 or 15 miles +to the east of this, which used to be the high road between +Bayonne and Pamplona before the Baztan road was built, +and which was during all history the westernmost road of +invasion and communication between Gaul and Spain; +thirdly, the road which goes over the Somport, which was also +a Roman road and the chief one, uniting Saragossa with the +French plains; fourthly, a road parallel to this and not 10 +miles east of it, running over the Pourtalet Pass and joining +the Saragossa road lower down. No other roads cross the +range from France into Spain until one reaches the Mediterranean, +and all these four lie within the first westernmost third +of the Pyrenees.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span></p> + +<p>It would be quite easy to open other roads which should +unite the last of the Spanish highways with the first of the +French, notably over the easy pass of Bonaigo, where 20 miles +of work would be enough, and through the Cerdagne, where +there are no engineering difficulties. One such road is now +in process of completion between Esterri and St. Girons over +the pass of Salau. Another, which was begun from the valley +of the Ariège into Andorra, was abruptly stopped, and it will +probably never be completed. There are some half-dozen +other places, where a road could cross and where the French +are building their side of it: but the Spaniards are reluctant +to meet them.</p> + +<p>Of the roads of the third kind, roads running up the valleys +but not attempting to cross the mountains, one may say that +on the French side every valley has one or more good roads, +the one drawback to the use of which in a motor is that you +are compelled, unless you can take a cross road from one high +valley to another high valley, to go back by the way you came +into the plain.</p> + +<p>Not only has every valley its highway leading to the very +foot of the main range, but often the bifurcations of the valley +will have roads as well. Thus along the valley of the Nive +you can go in a motor not only to St. Jean Pied-de-Port, but +also right up the eastern valley to a country-side called the +“Baigorry” as far as Urepel; along the next Basque valley +to the east, you can go from Mauléon in the plains right up +into the hills as far as Larrau, but you cannot go to Ste. +Engrace, where the valley splits, because the track thither, +though a good one, will not take wheels. You can go up the +branch valley from Oloron as high as Aritte, and the main +road up the Val d’Aspe (which is that leading to Jaca by the +old Roman way), has lateral branches, one taking you to +Lourdios, the other across the foot hills to Arudy and the Val +d’Ossau. The valley of Lourdes has a road which, with the +exception of the roads over the passes, goes nearest to the main +watershed. I mean the road to Gavarnie; and the Val +d’Aure, which comes next to the westward, has a road going +as far as Aragnonette, almost as close to the last cliffs as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> +Gavarnie is; and there is an embranchment to the east which +takes one to the very foot at the Hôpital of Rivanagon in +one of the loneliest parts of the hills. The road to Bagnères +de Luchon is carried some miles beyond that town, as far as +the Hospitalet, which stands at the foot of the pass into Spain. +The road to Viella in the Val d’Oran goes on up to within a +mile or two of the pass of Bonaigo. A road from St. Girons +takes one up the valley of the Lez as far as Sentein, which, +like Gavarnie, lies right under the main chain, while the road +from the same town up the main valley of the Sallent goes up +to the watershed itself, and is being constructed to cross it, +and to afford (over the pass of Salau) one more badly needed +passage into Spain. The valley of the Ariège has a road all +along it, almost to the sources of that river. It is continued +through the Cerdagne and down the valley of the Tet into the +Roussillon.</p> + +<p>There is not a main valley on the French side of the Pyrenees +which has not its great carriage road, and most of the lateral +valleys have now the same kind of communications. The +journey up them is nearly always of the same kind, save the +few which are prolonged to carry over the watershed into +Spain. There is the succession of two or three enclosed plains +or jasses after one has left the plains, the sharp pitch up to one +flat, and then another, through short but steep rocky gorges, +till we reach the little terminal mountain village, sometimes +not more than a group of three or four buildings, lying under +the last escarpment, and in sight of the frontier ridge above it. +Of this terminal sort was Urdos until Napoleon III pushed the +road out beyond it into Spain; Gabas, until the Republic +did the same with the road there; and of this sort still an +old Hospitalet, Sentein in the Val d’Aure, and though it is in +a state of transition, for the road is now being pushed beyond +it, of this sort is Gavarnie. Little places almost as old as our +race, with no history and no national memories, but with +immemorial traditions, rooted as deep as the mountains, were +brought into the life of our time by that new activity of the +French, which is to many foreigners so hateful, to many others +so marvellous.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan-l" style="max-width: 75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan-l.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Plan L.</span></p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span></p> + +<p>On the Spanish side there are no roads of this kind penetrating +the valleys except the incomplete road to Isaba from +Pamplona by way of the Val d’Anso, and the short stretch +from Sandinies to Panticosa.</p> + +<p>A road is being made up the Val d’Anéu, but it is not yet +finished, and a road goes just so far up the broad Segre valley +as Seu d’Urgel.</p> + +<p>All the other valleys have mule tracks alone.</p> + +<p>The general scheme of existing roads in the Pyrenees is +roughly as upon the map on previous page, where it will be +seen that much the greater length of the chain is impassable to +a wheeled vehicle.</p> + +<p>Motoring sets a standard for every other form of wheeled +traffic, I will therefore first speak of this kind of travel. The +best road to take with a motor, if one wishes to obtain a general +idea of the Pyrenees, is the Lower Road (by Tarbes and Foix) +from Bayonne to Perpignan; one may then come back again +from Perpignan to Bayonne by the upper road, many parts +of which are of very recent construction and which goes right +through the highest part of the chain across the main lateral +valleys of the Pyrenees. Such a round—about 500 miles +altogether—gives one from far and from near the whole of the +French Pyrenees: from the first one sees the chain as a whole +before one: by the second one mixes with its deepest valleys.</p> + +<p>The first day’s run from Bayonne had best end at Tarbes; +it is a town central with regard to the chain, and it is also a +very pleasant place to stop at under any conditions; not cosmopolitan +like Pau, and not in a hole and corner like Foix.</p> + +<p>The lower road from Bayonne to Tarbes runs through +Orthez, Puyoo, and Pau, and if one starts early, Pau is a good +halting-place for the middle of the day. This part of the road +is, during the whole of its length or nearly the whole of it, a +rolling road of the plains with no striking points of view save +in where it tops a slight rise. It first follows but runs above +and north of the valley of the Adour below it, next descends +after the first 20 miles or so to cross the Adour, and so comes +to Peyrehorade, the first town (and railway station) upon its +course. During all this first part of the run one has sight after<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span> +sight of the range which stretches out eastward before one to +the south rising higher as it goes; and one sees at first before +one upon the horizon, later abreast of one and due south, the +pyramid of the Pic d’Anie, which is the first of the high peaks.</p> + +<p>From Peyrehorade to Pau, between 40 and 50 miles, the +road goes through Orthez along the valley of the Gave de Pau, +for the most part following the river bank and allowing but +few sights of the range; but at Pau itself it rises on to the high +plateau of the town whence the most famous general view of +the Pyrenees is spread before one.</p> + +<p>From Pau there are two roads to Tarbes; for curiosity and +for general travel it is the road round by Lourdes which is +generally taken, and that is during the whole of its length a +lowland road though it runs among the foot hills; but the +better road on such a drive as I am describing is the direct +northern road, which, after it has climbed on to the plateau +of Vignan, goes up and down steep small ravines until it comes +down again upon the main valley of the Adour and the plain +of Tarbes.</p> + +<p>There are on this road two points, one just after one leaves +the railway line, not quite half-way to Tarbes on the climb +up to Vignan, the other just before the loop and descent above +Ibos, which afford fine views of the range to the south, and +one begins to gather one’s general impression of these mountains, +which, more than any other range, present an appearance +of simplicity and the united effect of a barrier. Tarbes, +less than 30 miles from Pau, may seem a short run for one +day from Bayonne, but it breaks the journey exactly and +conveniently.</p> + +<p>After Tarbes (where the hotel for you is the Hotel Des +Ambassadeurs) the road goes through much broken country, +passing by Tournay up on the high plateau of Lannemezan +to Montréjeau. It is a road full of short hills, but it is necessary +to take this section in order to go eastward from Montréjeau +and to proceed through St. Gaudens, taking an elbow +by St. Martary and so down to St. Girons.</p> + +<p>After St. Girons one follows the new and excellent road +which runs along the valley side by side with the new railway<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> +to Foix. From Foix to Nalzen your way is to go along the +main road from Foix up the Ariège Valley for some 4 miles +and then turn to the left, leaving the railway and making +due east. From Nalzen continue to Lavenalet; there take +the right-hand road to Belesta and Belcaire; thence, when you +have crossed the plateau, a very winding road takes you down +hundreds of feet, on to Quillan. After Quillan you have a +few miles through the very little known and wonderful gorges +of Pierre Lys to St. Martin, through which gorges the railway +accompanies you. Do not follow it round by Axat, but cut +across by the road which goes eastward to La Pradelle. This +road takes you across a low pass to the watershed of the +Mediterranean. From La Pradelle to Perpignan the road is +a perfectly clear one through St. Paul and Estagel. It is a +straight, good road, following the valley all the way, save the +last stretch, which runs across the plains between the river +Agly and the Tet.</p> + +<p>This second day will of course be far longer than the first; +it is nearer 200 miles than 120. If you would break it, however, +break it rather after the short run to St. Girons, than at +Foix, for though Foix be nearly the half-way house, yet the +accommodation is better at St. Girons, and so is the cooking.</p> + +<p>A two days’ run of this kind from the Atlantic to the +Mediterranean, following such a route, gives you the whole +distant range in one general appearance, and gives it you better +than you will have along any other line with which I am +acquainted.</p> + +<p>The way back by the upper road from east to west through +the Pyrenees is a piece of travel quite peculiar to these mountains; +nowhere else in Europe is there a lateral road driven +right across the buttresses or supports of a main range. The +Pyrenees possess such a road in their highest part. What +the French have done here is as though the Italians had driven +a road from the sources of the Dora Baltea right under Mont +Rosa, and the Matterhorn to Lake Maggiore, or as though the +Swiss had driven one from Faido and Fusia right over into +the valley of Domo d’Ossola. From Tarascon in the valley +of the Ariège to Laruns in the Val d’Ossau—that is, over all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> +the central part of the chain and for just over half its length—a +mountain road goes right up against the main heights (only +once coming near the lowlands at St. Girons), crossing the +high, perilous passes which lie between the upper valleys. By +taking advantage of this new piece of engineering you can +return from Perpignan to Bayonne through the midst of those +hills which the road just described from Bayonne to Perpignan +showed you in a distant general view: when you have so +returned you will have seen the heart, the French Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>I will now describe such a return journey by the upper road. +From Perpignan you will do well to run the first day to Ax. +The road is the great road from the Roussillon into France. +You go up the valley of the Tet (which is the main river of +the Roussillon) through Prades with the Canigou first right +in front of you, and at last rising steeply to your left. You +continue through Prades up the gorges and tortuous zigzags +of the Upper River until you come to the head of the pass at +Mont Louis: there the broad and easy valley of the Cerdagne +opens to the south, sloping gently before you. The road runs +down, almost as in a plain, to Bourg Madame, where you must +turn to the right up the Val Carol to Porté. The pass above +Porté (called the “Puymorens”) though long, is of an easy +gradient, and once over it you run down all the 18 miles to +Ax, following the valley of the Ariège.</p> + +<p>Ax is, of course, an early stopping-place. The whole +distance from Perpignan is under 140 miles, but Ax is so much +more comfortable than Tarascon that it is better to make one’s +halt there.</p> + +<p>Next day go down the valley as far as Tarascon and there +take the mountain road off to the left; it is not a national<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +road but it has a perfectly good surface in spite of a considerable +climb. One little col comes almost immediately at +Bedeillac, after that you climb steadily up the valley to the Col-du-Port +(which is about 4000 feet high) then down the mountain +side to Massat, which lies on the western side of the pass<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> +and about 2000 feet below it. Thence it is an ordinary valley +road until you come to St. Girons again.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> The French metalled roads are of three main kinds, supported by +the State, the County and the Parish respectively. Of these the first +and most important are called “National Road.”</p> + +</div> +</div> + +<p>From St. Girons you continue this progress parallel to the +watershed and right among the high peaks, by taking the cross +road from St. Girons to the valley of the Garonne. Just +before the railway station at St. Girons turn sharp to your left, +taking the road which goes up the left bank of the Lez. At +this starting point you are not more than 1300 or 1400 feet +above the sea; at Audressein (300 feet up) turn to the right, +cross the river, and begin to climb the upper valley until you +reach the col of Portet-d’Aspet at about 3400 feet, that is, +some 2000 feet above St. Girons, and between 15 and 20 miles +from that town. From this col the road descends rapidly +down the valley of the river Ger, falling in 5 miles 1500 or +1600 feet. At the end of the 5 miles you take a road that goes +sharp off to the left before reaching the village of Sengouagnet, +this road going off to the left crosses a low watershed, makes, +at the end of another 5 miles, a great loop round the forest of +Moncaup (the church of which village you leave to the left +just before making the turn), and comes down into the great +open plain into which the valley of the Garonne here enlarges. +It is one of the finest enclosed plains in the Pyrenees, and to +come down upon it by this road is perhaps the best way to +approach it.</p> + +<p>The first village in this plain is Antichan, thence several +long windings take one down to Frontignan below, and thence +it is a straight road through Fronsac to Chaum where there is +a bridge over the river, and where the plain of which I have +spoken terminates in a narrow gateway through the hills. +You cross the river by this bridge, fall at once into the great +national road upon the further or left bank, and a straight +run of not more than 12 miles in which one only rises 300 or +400 feet up the tributary valley brings one to Bagnères-de-Luchon. +Though at the end of an even shorter day than was +Ax from Perpignan, Bagnères will make a convenient stopping-place +after a good deal of hill climbing and roads the surface +of which, especially in the early summer, is occasionally doubtful. +Bagnères has, of course, everything that people motoring<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> +can want, it is the capital of the touring Pyrenees, and even if +this cross journey has not proved enough for one day, the +character of Bagnères makes it the right place to stop at +on the second day.</p> + +<p>Though Bagnères is right in the middle of the mountains, +but a mile or two from the frontier of Spain, not 6 miles, as +the crow flies, from the watershed and within ten of the highest +peaks of the Pyrenees, yet the importance of the town has +caused good communications to spring up around it, and there +is an excellent road crossing straight over from the high valley +of Bagnères into the next high valley, the Val d’Aure. It +starts at the market-place just opposite the new church, +crosses the col called “Port-de-Peyredsourde,” and comes +down into the main road of the Val d’Aure at Avajan, which +follows down the stream at an even gradient to Arreau, 7 +miles further on.</p> + +<p>Arreau is the capital of the Val d’Aure, and when you have +reached it you will have come about 20 miles from Bagnères.</p> + +<p>The next parallel valley to the Val d’Aure is that of the +Gave-de-Pau: the valley which has at its mouth the town of +Lourdes, and at its head, right under the Spanish frontier, +the famous village and cliff of Gavarnie. There is, indeed, a +small subsidiary valley in between where the Adour takes its +rise, and of which Bagnères-de-Bigorre is the capital, but it is +shorter and stands lower than the two main valleys upon either +side. The section I am about to describe, the great new road +from the Val d’Aure to the Valley of Lourdes, just touches this +upper valley of the Adour but does not pursue it.</p> + +<p>The cross road from Arreau in the Val d’Aure to Luz in the +valley of Lourdes is the steepest and the most diverse in +gradient, as it is also by far the finest in scenery, of all the new +sections which have recently been pierced through the highest +parts of the range and between them build up what I have +called “The Upper Road.” The distance as the crow flies +from Arreau to Luz is not 20 miles, but the long windings of +the road which take it over two passes, and the northern diversion +necessary to turn the great mountain mass of the Port +Bieil, lengthen it to nearly double that distance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span></p> + +<p>There is no mistaking this road. It branches off at Arreau, +leaving the valley road not half a mile beyond the bridge and +going to the left up a little side stream, the name of which I +do not know. Within 2 miles it crosses this stream and begins +to take the long complicated and graded turns up the +mountain. One must be careful, by the way, at the point +where the road crosses the stream to turn sharp to the right +and not go straight on towards Aspin, for though one can get +to the main road again from Aspin, it is by roads too steep for +a motor. If one so turns to the right, the road goes up to the +col in great zigzags and climbs in some 6 or 7 miles the 2000 +feet between Arreau and the summit, thence it falls rapidly +for 3 or 4 miles to a point where the new road cuts off the +corner the old road used to make. It is important to recognize +this point, not only because it saves one at least 6 or 7 +miles of travelling, but also because it saves one going right +down into the valley of the Adour and climbing up again. +I will therefore attempt to fix for the traveller the exact +place where he must turn off to the left, though the +description is difficult on account of the absence of any +landmark.</p> + +<p>As you come down from the Col d’Aspin, you run through +a wood along the mountain side for perhaps 2 miles. The +road sweeps round the curve of a gulley on emerging from this +wood, crosses the rivulet of that gulley, and comes down +close to the stream at the foot of the valley which is the source +of the Adour. Just at this point a road will be seen coming +in from the left, descending the slope of the valley beyond the +stream and crossing it by a bridge. This is <i>not the road</i> you +are to take. You must continue on the same road you have +been following down from the pass, until, in about half a +mile, it crosses the stream to the left bank, and approaches +on that bank a wood that lies above one on the hill. Immediately +after this bridge there is a bifurcation; one branch goes +straight on, the other goes off to the left; this last is the one +you must follow. The branch going straight on is the old +road which leads down the valley of the Adour, and from +which one used to have to double back some miles on at an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> +acute angle to reach Luz. The new road, which you must +thus take to the left, cuts off that angle.</p> + +<p>There are no difficulties from this point onward. The road +winds a good deal round the hill-side, and almost exactly 5 +miles from the point where you turned into it you come again +upon the main road to Luz over a bridge that crosses a stream. +Just where you join that main road it begins its long climb up +to the pass called Col du Tourmalet.</p> + +<p>This pass is the highest and steepest on the secondary or +lateral passes, over which the new roads have recently been +driven. It is just under 7000 feet in height, is everywhere +practicable, and once it is surmounted there is a clear run down +of some 10 miles and more (following the valley called locally +that of the Bastan) to Vielle and to Luz in the main +valley.</p> + +<p>Of all the crossings between the high valleys of the Pyrenees +this is the one best worth taking. The height of the pass, the +great mass of the Port Bieil dominating one side of the road, +and of the Pic-du-Midi dominating the other, give it an aspect +different from any other of the secondary roads, and comparable +only to the two main passes of the Somport and the Val +d’Ossau.</p> + +<p>From Luz a great national road takes one down the valley +to Argelès and the railway, a distance of about 18 miles, and +the end of about as fine a piece of engineering as there is in +Europe. From Argelès, which is just above Lourdes and +whence Lourdes can be reached at once by road or by rail, +the cross road which I am describing goes on over another +high pass into the Val d’Ossau.</p> + +<p>The motorist must decide whether to make Argelès his +stopping-place or not. In distance from Bagnères he will +have gone no more than somewhat over 70 miles, and that is +a short day; but it is a day that will have included a great +deal of climbing and of sharp descents, and that will have had +at the end of it one of the highest passes in the Pyrenees. +If he does not choose to stop at Argelès, he will find in Eaux +Bonnes above the Val d’Ossau, rather more than 20 miles on +(but over a high pass), a very wealthy little modern town, like<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span> +Bagnères on a lesser scale, with everything that he or his +machine can want; and only an hour or an hour and a half +beyond Eaux Bonnes, by one of the great national roads and +along the lowlands, is Pau.</p> + +<p>This cross road from Argelès and the valley of Lourdes, +into the Val d’Ossau runs as follows. You take at Argelès +the road for Aucun, a village about 5 miles off, up a lateral +valley, during which 5 miles you climb over 1200 feet.</p> + +<p>From Aucun, still climbing, the road passes Marsous, winds +up the hill-side away from the stream, and reaches the first +pass, the Col de Soulor, thence it makes round the head waters +of the Ouzan valley and round the flank of a bare hill called +in that country-side “Mount Ugly,” until it reaches the point +called the Col de Casteix. Here the foot passenger would +naturally cross, as he might have crossed still lower down by +the Col de Cortes, but for the sake of a gradient the road goes +right round to the north and over the Col d’Aubisque, falling +from thence in very long curves down to Eaux Bonnes. The +town is not 2½ miles from the top of the col in a straight line. +It is more than 5 by the long zigzags of the road.</p> + +<p>From Eaux Bonnes a road of less than 3 miles takes one +down the Pyrenees to Laruns in the valley, and here the great +lateral road of the high Pyrenees may be said to end.</p> + +<p>One may go to Pau the same night, but, sleeping at Eaux +Bonnes, it is a most interesting journey to continue down the +valley of the Gave d’Ossau to Arudy and to Oloron, thence by +the road through Aramits, and Tardets to Mauléon, thence by +Musculdy, Larceveau, and Lacarre to St. Jean Pied-de-Port, +but all that run is through the foot hills, and though one has +fine views of the range from every little pass and hilltop, these +last 80 or 100 miles are not of the same nature as the track I +have just been describing, the chief feature of which is the +presence of a good carriageway running through the very core +of high and abrupt mountains. Still, anyone who has taken +the lower road, as I have advised, from Bayonne to Perpignan +and wishes to go back all the way to Bayonne by a higher +road nearer the mountains, cannot do better than go on from +Eaux Bonnes to Laruns, to Oloron, Mauléon, St. Jean Pied-de-Port,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> +and thence down the lovely valley of the Nive to +Bayonne.</p> + +<p>So far I have described the main circular journey, west to +east, and from east back again to west, which one can take in +a motor car in the French Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>To describe or to advise as to a similar journey from north +to south is not so easy, because the Spanish roads are uncertain. +Moreover, there is no Spanish road crossing the lateral +ranges as the French one does, so that, unless one abandons +the Pyrenees altogether and goes right down into the plains, +a circular journey from north to south and back north again +is confined to the very narrow choice between Roncesvalles, +the Somport, and the new Sallent road.</p> + +<p>The road over the Somport is the best international road +between France and Spain. It is completely finished, and +yet it is sufficiently modern to present every advantage for +travel. On the French side it has been complete since the +time of Napoleon III; on the Spanish side its highest +stretches have been finished only in recent years. It is +perfectly possible to take the whole road from Oloron to +Jaca, and so back by Sallent and Laruns to Oloron again in +one day, but it would be a foolish thing to do, and if the ascents +try the machine, it might mean going through some of the +best scenery of the Val d’Ossau in the dark. It is best therefore +to break the journey at Jaca, and no number of hours +spent in that delightful town are wasted. The first part of +the road—the first 16 miles or so—are nearly level. It is +interesting to see the straight line which the Roman track +makes for the gate of the hills at Asasp. The pass seems to +invite the road: it is the most obvious gap in the whole Chain.</p> + +<p>The rise, as I have said, is slight. The river, which is rather +less than 800 feet above the sea at Oloron, is not 1400 above it +at Bédous; in the whole 20 miles or so, you rise but 600 feet. +There are occasional hills, but they are insignificant, and the +general impression is that of following the floor of the valley. +When, however, one has passed through the great enclosed +plain of Bédous, and left behind him its chief town, Accous, +one passes through a narrow gorge, which rises continually<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> +to Urdos about 12 miles on. The rise is gradual, however, and +never steep. It was at Urdos that the old valley road used to +stop, until Napoleon III continued it to the summit of the pass, +and for 7 miles above Urdos there are continual and steep +rises. The pass, however, is low (it is but slightly over 5000 +feet) and the last 2 miles before the summit are fairly flat. +From the summit the road runs down on the Spanish side a +little steeply, but with no really difficult gradient, and after +about 2 miles of this, where the Canal Roya falls in and forms +the river Aragon, the road takes on quite an easy slope. +Indeed, the escarpment is so much steeper upon the French +side that Jaca, though it is 25 miles away, stands no lower than +Urdos close by just over the ridge. Rather less than half-way +between the summit and Jaca is the little town of Canfranc. +It would be a pity to stop there, the food is doubtful, +and so is the wine, and if one wants to breakfast on the +journey, it is better to make an early breakfast at Urdos.</p> + +<p>After Canfranc the mountains open out and you are fairly +in the lowlands; 17 miles on, through a wide valley, you come +to Jaca.</p> + +<p>Your hotel at Jaca will be the Hotel Mur, as good and comfortable +a one as you will find in northern Spain. From Jaca +you may go on to Pamplona westward, or down further south +into Spain by Saragossa. As you enter the northern gate of +Jaca, you will have gone exactly 57 miles from Oloron; a +short distance I know, but I repeat, it is foolish to go to Jaca +and not to spend your time in so charming a place. Moreover, +the run back has no opportunities for repose.</p> + +<p>The return journey is first eastward by the Guasa road, +which has (or had, when I went along it last), a most indifferent +surface in parts, and you follow this, with a railway never +far from the road, some 10 or 12 miles, until at Sabiñanigo +the railway turns down south and in much the same neighbourhood +(but north of the line) the road turns up north and +reaches Biescas (a smaller town than Jaca), in about another +8 miles. After that it begins to climb. At Sandinies the road +bifurcates. That on the right goes up to Panticosa; crossing +the river by the stone bridge of Escar, your road goes straight<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> +on up the valley and climbs up to Sallent for 3 or 4 +miles.</p> + +<p>I confess I have never been over this bit, but I am assured +that it is practicable for a motor, and I have indeed seen a +motor which had come round from Panticosa. There is +nothing at Sallent that you can call habitable, though as +motors live there it is to be presumed that there are ways of +looking after them. You will do well to volunteer at the guard +room (which is on the left of the road as you leave the town) +information as to your whereabouts. It has happened to me +not to be allowed to leave a Spanish town without all manner +of formalities, while on other occasions it has happened to me +to walk through one and over into France without a question +being asked.</p> + +<p>From Sallent the new road goes up with rather steep gradients +at first, zigzagging up the side of the Peña Forata. The +old road, a mere track, may be seen cutting off the great bends +as one climbs the mountain. About a mile from the frontier, +where the steepness of the road grows level, is a post of police +where they may or may not bother you; they bothered me +on one occasion, and on another they let me alone. From the +summit, which is some 12 kilometres and more—say 8 miles +by road—from the town of Sallent one goes down first +gently, then steeply, with the Pic-du-Midi d’Ossau, a vast +isolated rock, right in front of one, and one is accompanied +by a torrent upon one’s left—which is the Gave d’Ossau. +The road follows the right bank of this for some 7 miles, +crosses over to the left bank, and 3 miles after this +bridge reaches Gabas, a tiny hamlet, where is one of the +most delightful hotels in the Pyrenees. Gabas is the highest +inhabited point in this valley, and is just the same distance +from the summit that Sallent is upon the other side, that is, +between 8 and 9 miles. From Gabas down to Laruns the road +continues all the way downhill, a matter of another 7 or 8 +miles, and from Laruns back to Oloron, through Buzy, is a +lowland road with a flat surface. The whole round from +Oloron back to Oloron again is somewhere between 125 and +150 miles.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p> + +<p>There is but one other circular journey for which I can vouch +that it can be made in a motor car; it is the journey from +Bayonne to Pamplona, by way of the low passes on the +Atlantic side of the range, and back again through Roncesvalles.</p> + +<p>You find yourself at Bayonne as a starting-place. The main +road into Spain and towards Madrid goes along the sea, much +as the railway does, and bears westward, but there is another +road through the tangle of Basque mountains, or rather those +hills which between them make up French and Spanish +Navarre, and this road is the direct road to Pamplona. It is +a short day’s journey of some 60 miles at the most when all +the windings are taken into account, and there are no really +high passes or steep gradients throughout. You leave +Bayonne by the main straight road which leads out south-west +towards Biarritz, but, immediately outside the fortifications, +you turn to the left along the high land above the valley of the +Nive. A mile and a half out you cross over the main line and +immediately afterwards take the road to the left which leads +you to Arcangues. There are many branch roads on this +little bit, which is well under 4 miles, but the chief road is +plain. At Arcangues, just after you have left the church on +the right, you turn to the left, still following the high road, +and in some 2 miles you strike the forest of Ustaritz, the confines +of which were for so many centuries the sacred centre +of the Basque people. Through this forest there is no doubt +of the way. The road leading to the town of Ustaritz, which +goes off to the left in the midst of the forest, comes in at so +sharp an angle that one would not be tempted to take it, and +the high road goes on, without any bifurcations, to St. Pée. +You have, by this time, crossed the low watershed between +the basin of the Adour and that of the Nivelle, upon which +river St. Pée stands at some 13 or 14 miles from Bayonne.</p> + +<p>You turn to the left in St. Pée by the road that leaves that +village due south, and take the left-hand road again at the +first bifurcation, which is immediately outside the village; +then follow steadily up the valley of the river. There is but +one doubtful place, not 3 miles out of St. Pée, where you choose<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> +the left of two roads, but even that is not really doubtful, +for your road obviously follows the stream, which it there +crosses by a bridge, while the right-hand road goes over into +the hills. About 3 miles more from this bifurcation you cross +the frontier, and thence onwards there is no doubt of your +way. The high road goes over the Pass of Ostondo, or Maya, +quite low, and brings you into the Basque valley of Baztan. +Come on down through Elizondo, a most delightful town of +this people, and climb up continually thence (taking the left-hand +road at Irurita, one and a half miles from Elizondo) +until you come to yet another pass, called the “Port La +Betal” or “Vetale” in French, some 2000 feet or more in +height. After crossing this col you are in the basin of the +Ebro, and the road thence into Pamplona is a straight stretch +all the way to the plain, which appears suddenly spread out +as you round a corner, a fine sight.</p> + +<p>The old road back from Pamplona into France over Roncesvalles, +the road which the armies of Charlemagne took, and +which the Romans built, went first east and west, and was the +first portion of the great road to Saragossa. It met the road +over the mountains and branched north towards Roncesvalles. +There is a modern road which cuts off this corner, +and joins the Roncesvalles road quite close to the hills. It +crosses three low lateral ranges by very easy gradients, and +has an excellent surface. It takes one through Larrasoaña, +Erro, and finally, without any doubtful cross roads or turnings, +falls into the old Roman road, just below Burguete.</p> + +<p>Here you must make ready for one of the greatest sights in +Europe. You are on a very high upland plain, something +like the glacis of a fortification. The last crest of the Pyrenees +stands like a long wall of white cliffs, which seems low and +familiar, because you are so very high up on this sloping plain. +You go through a fine northern-looking wood which might +be in England, with great spacious clumps of beeches and +broad glades. You pass the monastery, and then go up +through the hamlet of Roncesvalles, quite an insignificant few +hundred feet of road; you see a ruined chapel upon your +right (ruined quite recently by fire, and yet no one has taken<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> +the trouble to rebuild it!), then suddenly you are at the +summit, and a profound trench opens sheer below you and +points straight to the French plains, miles and miles away.</p> + +<p>It is here that Roland died, in the valley below.</p> + +<p>From this summit the roads run down directly on the +northern side of the watershed, but still politically in Spain, +till you come to the last Spanish town, Val Carlos, where you +will do well to ask for papers permitting you to leave the +country. These papers are obtained from the Corregidor. +Two miles on you cross the river into France, and four miles +further you are in St. Jean Pied-de-Port, where there is good +food and promptitude and news and all that is necessary to +man.</p> + +<p>From St. Jean Pied-de-Port the main valley road takes +you, without any doubtful turnings, down the river and the +railway, now on one side, now on the other, all the way to +Bayonne. There is but one place where the traveller might +be a little confused, and that is some 12 miles or more from +St. Jean Pied-de-Port, where the road, which has been running +right along the railway and the river for miles, turns sharp +over to the right to reach a village called Louhossoa; but this +village (which is but a mile from the river) once reached, everything +is plain again. Turn to the left at the church, where +the road goes straight back to the river (a matter of 2 miles), +crosses it, and goes along the heights on the left bank, all the +way back to Bayonne.</p> + +<p>The whole of this circle is about equivalent in distance to +that which I have described round from Oloron to Jaca, and +back again round by Sallent; and, as in the former case, you +will do well to break the journey in Spanish territory and at +Pamplona, for though this makes two short days in a motor, +they are days in which you ought to see what you can see. +For my part also, I would stop at Elizondo, to eat and to watch +the place; but I would not eat at the hotel in the main street, +where the people are cruel and grasping, but rather at the +cheap and genial place kept by one Jarégui.</p> + +<p>Besides these two circular journeys upon good roads, which +a man can take across the main range, there is the variation<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> +of them that can be made by taking the valley road from Pamplona +to Jaca, a journey of at least 70 miles or more. I know +that it can be done, for I have seen motors that had done it, +and for all that I know the road may even be excellent: or +it may be very bad—I am not acquainted with it. Such as +it is, it takes you all along Aragon and the parallel outer +ranges of the Spanish Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>I have mentioned another extension to the roads described, +the run down to Saragossa from Jaca. This of course takes +you right out of the Pyrenean country, but the first half of it at +least is in the hills, and no journey shows you better the nature +of the outlier mountains on the Spanish slope of the main range. +Off the direct road one may make a long elbow eastward to +reach Huesca, which was St. Laurence’s town. The surface +is good, and there are few steep gradients, though there is a +long climb out of Jaca itself. From Jaca to Saragossa, by +way of Huesca, along this road, is just about 100 miles, and, +as far as Huesca at least, it provides a complete knowledge of +the mountain types upon the Spanish side of the watershed. +Nor is this typical scenery anywhere finer than in the splendid +gorges and chimney-rocks of Riglos, nor is any one of +the parallel ranges more characteristic than the high Sierra +de Guara, which stands up above the burnt plain of Huesca, +30 miles out from the main ridge, quite separate from the +general range, and yet reaching a summit of nearly 6000 feet.</p> + +<p>All the roads suitable for motoring, especially in such a +district as this, are suitable for bicycling also. I say “especially +in such a district as this,” because the identity between +motoring and bicycling roads is more striking in the Pyrenees +than in most parts of France, since the expense and difficulty +of making the great highways here has been such that it was +not worth while building a carriage road on these hills unless +the engineering was to be of the most perfect kind, and the +surface of the best, and the gradients as easy as nature would +allow. The consequence is that there are in the Pyrenees no +roads (which he will find in the plains) where a man on a bicycle +can go with difficulty, and a motor cannot go at all. Stretches +of this kind, due to bad surface or to steepness, are familiar<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> +to every one, but I can remember none of the sort, not even of +a few miles, between St. Jean Pied-de-Port and Puigcerdá, +nor between the French plains and the Spanish.</p> + +<p>The question will, however, be asked by anyone who proposes +to bicycle in this district for the first time, whether the +long gradients are not such as to destroy the advantage of +using the greater part of the roads. To this objection a +general rule applies, one which will seem a little unusual when it +is first read, but which I have found from experience to be true. +It is this, that the few crossings of the hills from north to south +make easier journeys for the bicyclist than do the lateral +roads across the ribs or buttresses of the main chain. Anyone +going for instance on a bicycle from Laruns to Lourdes, +will have some very fine scenery for his pains, and, if the day +is fine, he will not regret his experience, but he should +be warned that on this lateral road most of his energy will be +taken up in slowly climbing the great pass over the Mont +Laid; for though it is but a few miles as the crow flies, it is +a big and toilsome business along the highway. Nor would +that be the only pass. It is characteristic of these lateral +roads that they usually contain more than one big ascent. +He will be troubled again at the Col-de-Soulor and to get from +Laruns to Lourdes, though the two towns are in contiguous +valleys and no further apart than London and Windsor, would +be a day’s work for most men.</p> + +<p>Another example of the same sort could be given from the +other lateral roads of the Pyrenees, as, for instance, the low +cross road between St. Jean Pied-de-Port and the valley of +Mauléon. Here the pass is much less high, but a mile or two +from St. Jean, when you have gone through St. Jean-le-Vieux, +you begin to climb, and all the long way of the valley of the +Bidouze, and out again, over the next range, that overlooks +the Saison, is a succession of long wheelings uphill.</p> + +<p>For the purpose of seeing some particular place in the next +valley, it may be worth while to follow one of these lateral +roads, but a general tour of that sort is not worth while. If, +on the contrary, a bicyclist chooses the main north and south +roads, he will find many advantages in the choice, and I would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> +recommend in particular, as the best that he can undertake +in these mountains, the round from Oloron to Jaca and back, +which I have already described. Such a journey is a task +taking three full days, four or five easy days, and it gives such +an opportunity of contrasting two civilizations, and of learning +the barrier which separates them, as does not offer itself +in so short a space anywhere else, I think, in western Europe. +I will not detain the reader in this particular with what I have +to say upon this road in general, for that will rather concern +the description I will make of it when I speak of travel on foot, +but I will point out in what way it can be dealt with by the +bicyclist.</p> + +<p>All the long road from Oloron to Bédous, though it leads to +the very heart of the mountains, needs no more energy upon +a bicycle than does a two-hours’ ride (and it ought not to take +two hours) in any part of the plains. There are one or two half-miles +of hill, all of them rideable, but the general run of the +way is flat, or burdened with a slight rise which is hardly +perceived, and the approach to Bédous, in its magic circle of +hills, is actually <i>down</i> along a fine slope, which faces the last +ridge and the frontier watershed. So far, it is a ride +which one may take even upon a high gear, and have for +his pains as fine a survey of great mountains as he will find in +Europe. From Bédous the road cuts straight across the dead +level of the valley floor for 2½ miles, passes a “gate” of rock, +and thence continually runs through gorges up the 7 miles +to Urdos. It rises considerably in this last bit—nearly 1 in +20—and though the distance from Oloron to Urdos may not +take one more than one afternoon, anyone bicycling into Spain +will do well to pass the night at Urdos, for the big climb +begins just after that place. In this hamlet, of no pretensions, +you may choose with advantage the little inn called the +“Hotel of the Travellers,” of which, and whose charming +terrace, I speak in another place.</p> + +<p>Next day, unless you wish to accomplish a feat, you will +begin to walk up to the summit of the road. There are parts +that can be ridden—the last quarter is almost flat—but the +earlier part and the larger is too steep for comfort. The continental<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> +road-book makes the whole distance 12 miles, the +kilometres by the roadside, which are somewhat more reliable, +make it 8, and so does the map; anyhow it is a continuous +uphill which should be taken leisurely, pushing one’s machine +until one gets to the flat bit at the top. The short cuts are +here, unlike those of some other cols, quite impossible to a +bicycle, even when one is pushing it, and the whole way must +be taken upon the high road; if one can afford it, it is wise to +have the machine carried on a cart as far as the hospital, 2 +miles from the obelisk which marks the frontier and the +summit of the pass; but whether one pushes it, or whether +one has it carried, it is a three-hours’ climb. It is wisest to +take these three hours in the early morning.</p> + +<p>From the summit at the entry into Spain there is 2 miles of +steep new zigzag, falling a little too sharply, and all around is +the very novel aspect of the southern side of the range, where +the dryness and the sun have eaten up the forest; at the foot +of this zigzag begins an easy and continual run down of 7 or 8 +miles into Canfranc; your bicycle takes its own way; there +is no place so steep as to fatigue one with the break, still less +to be of any danger. The 17 miles from Canfranc onwards +towards Jaca is a road upon the whole descending, but by that +time one has entered the foot hills, which are flat and undulating +rather than mountainous, and at Jaca you will find the +Hotel Mur, which I have called the kindest little hotel in +Europe, and certainly one of the cleanest in Spain.</p> + +<p>You will leave Jaca early after spending there your second +night. I am not saying that the whole distance from Oloron +could not be done in a day, on the contrary, it could be done +quite easily. A man could pass the night at Oloron, starting +in the early morning from that town, be at Urdos easily by +ten, lunch there at leisure, get to the summit by four, and be +down at Jaca before dark on a July day, and before the hour +of the late Spanish meal. But the climbing of the pass would +fatigue him, it would come at an awkward time of the day, and +he would have to count upon what is not so certain in the +Pyrenees, fine weather. It is best to break the journey at +Urdos as I have advised.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span></p> + +<p>From Jaca, a great road leads all the way down to Saragossa, +throughout scenery where you are at first amazed by the contours +of the isolated cliffs above the gorges of the Gallego, and +afterwards almost equally amazed by the aridity of the great +plain that slopes down to the Ebro. The run from Jaca to +Saragossa is too much for one day in the hot season. It had +best be broken at Huesca. If he choose to make this excursion, +the traveller will have to return by the same road, and +he would perhaps be wise to save himself the tedium of it and +to put his machine upon the train, for a railway goes back, +much as the road does, to Jaca.</p> + +<p>If one does not take the excursion to Saragossa but returns +to France, the way is by Biescas, Sallent, and the Val d’Ossau.</p> + +<p>The Biescas road leaves Jaca to the east and runs so for 10 +miles, then it goes 8 miles northward to Biescas.</p> + +<p>From Biescas it begins to rise, in the last part heavily; +and Sallent, which is not 10 miles from Biescas as the crow +flies, is nearly 1500 feet higher. The gorge of approach to +Sallent is a plain embranchment from the Panticosa road at +Sandinies about 8 miles from Biescas.</p> + +<p>Sallent offers a problem to the bicyclist which it does not +offer to the man with the motor, and that is the problem of +lodging. It is a bad place to stop at, and yet the next place +where one can sleep is over the pass, 17 miles on at Gabas. +One will have gone nearly 40 miles from Jaca, and the last +bit one will have been climbing all the way; for some miles +up to Sallent quite steeply, and more or less uphill all the way +from Biescas. To push the machine up another 8 miles to +the summit (for it cannot be ridden) is a task, but it is a task +worth accomplishing, especially if you have a long evening +before you, for once on the summit you will have not only a +run down of 8 or 9 miles to Gabas without putting your foot to +the pedal, but also the prospect of the best inn in the Pyrenees, +the delightful inn which the Bayous who own it call the Hotel +des Pyrenees; or, if you like to take the whole pass at once, +you have nearly 20 clear miles downhill without stopping, +past Gabas to Laruns; but the inn at Laruns is not to be +compared with the inn at Gabas.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span></p> + +<p>If one takes on a bicycle the round which I have spoken of +for a motor from Bayonne to Pamplona by the valley of the +Baztan and back again by Roncesvalles, there is no difficulty +about inns, but on the other hand there is a multitude of +shorter hills, some of which cannot be ridden. You could +make two short days of the journey out by sleeping at +Elizondo, in which case on your first day you climb up a pass +and down into a valley, and your second day is a repetition +of the same process. The third day back from Pamplona to +France has one hill at Erro, which you will hardly be able to +climb, but from that valley through Burguete and right on to +the top of the pass is rideable on any reasonable gear. From +the summit down to Val Carlos all the way to the frontier is +one long easy run down, and you may continue the valley +road along the Nive as far as you like upon the same day. +Even Bayonne is not too far at a stretch.</p> + +<p>As for those who wish to know how to get a series of long +coasts in these hills at the least pains, my advice to them is +this: start from Perpignan, take the train from Perpignan to +Mont Louis. From Mont Louis you have a run of 15 miles, +falling 1000 feet all through the French Cerdagne to Bourg +Madame, uninterrupted save for two or three short rises. At +Bourg Madame next day an omnibus (with a very bad-tempered +driver—at least he was so in my day) will take you +up the Val Carol to the summit of the Puymorens; from there +it is an uninterrupted coast all the way down the valley of +the Ariège to Ax, and beyond as far as you like to go, 20 +or 30 miles of downhill with scarcely an interruption.</p> + +<p>The other way round is good coasting too. By the rail to +Ax, up the Puymorens by coach, coast down Val Carol, <i>ride</i> +up (through Llivia) to Mont Louis and coast down the gorges +of the Tet. It is only in this eastern part of the range that +you will get such long uninterrupted downhills: there is, in +the central part, the run down from the Pourtalet (but no +coach to take you up), and there is a coach up the Val d’Aran +to Viella, with a run back of a few miles down the Garonne; +but neither of these are like the Ariège valley or that of the +Tet, and the roads up the enclosed western valleys to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> +Luz, Bagnères, etc., have not sufficient fall for long coasting.</p> + +<p>One ought not to leave the road system of the Pyrenees +without saying something on driving. Your best town, I +think, for beginning a drive is Oloron, and there is a job-master +close to the station from whom you can get horses and +carriages by the day, by the week, or by the month. I do not +speak of this from my own experience but from what I have +been told, and I know that there are relays of horses all up the +pass; but whether the job-master has arrangements for relays +I do not know. That sensible kind of travel has so generally +died out that I should think it doubtful. It is better to depend +upon the same horses for the whole journey, and whether upon +the round by Navarre or that by Jaca the posthouses are +frequent everywhere, your longest stretches without one being +the bit of new road, 17 miles long, between Sallent and Gabas, +and the similar 14 or 16 miles between Urdos and Canfranc.</p> + +<p>On the other roads, should you determine to drive along +them, there is one rather long piece without a relay up the +Tourmalet, between the eastern foot of that pass and Barèges; +but this road is continually traversed by carriages at all +times, and there is sufficient provision for the distance. These +three are the only long gaps without relays which you have +to fear in driving through the Pyrenees. For the rest, except +that your days’ journeys must be so much shorter, what I +have said of the roads for motoring applies to driving also.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus07" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus07.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="V">V<br> +<span class="smaller">TRAVEL ON FOOT IN THE PYRENEES</span></h2> + +</div> + +<figure class="figleft illowp100" id="illus08" style="max-width: 25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus08.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The road system of the +Pyrenees and the opportunities +it affords for motoring, +bicycling, and driving are +but a small part of what most +English readers desire to know +about travel in these mountains. +For most men the pleasure of such travel is to be found in +wandering upon foot from place to place, in learning a district +by slow daily experience, in camping, and in the chance adventures +that attach to this kind of life, and also in climbing. +Of climbing I can write nothing; it is an amusement or a +gamble that I have had no opportunity of enjoying. Those +who think of mountains in this way can learn all they need +in Mr. Spender’s book, “The High Pyrenees.” They can get +more detailed knowledge from Packe—if a copy of the book +is still to be bought—and I am told by those who understand +such matters that the rock climbing of this range is among +the best and the most varied in Europe. In the matter +of travel upon foot other than climbing, I have some considerable +experience, and this is the sort of travel which I +shall presuppose when I come to speak of the various districts +into which travel in the Pyrenees may be divided.</p> + +<p>There are two ways in which travel on foot in these hills +can be enjoyed; the first is by laying down some long line of +travel—as over the Somport, across from the Aragon to the +Gallego, and so through Sobrarbe to Venasque—the second +is by fixing upon a comparatively small district in which one +can slowly shift one’s camp from one day to another. In<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> +either case, the aspect of travel on foot is much the same, and +so are its difficulties and its necessities.</p> + +<p>I have heard it discussed whether a man should travel with +a mule in these hills. The practice has in its favour the fact +that the mountaineers, whenever they have a pack to carry +and some distance to go, travel with a beast of burden. The +mule goes wherever a man can go, short of sheer climbing, +and it will carry provisions for some days. The expense is +not heavy; a mule is saleable anywhere in these mountains; +one can buy it at the beginning of a holiday and sell it at the +end of one, never at a great loss, sometimes at a profit. Nevertheless, +upon the whole, the mule is to be avoided. You are +somewhat tied by the beast. He is not always reasonable, +and feeding him, though it will be easy two days out of three, +is sometimes difficult, for while he will carry many days of +your provisions, he can carry but few rations of his own. With +a mule one always finds one’s self trying to make an inn, +and that preoccupation is a great drawback to travel in the +mountains. Moreover, the keep of a mule, at a Spanish inn +especially, is expensive. It is a better plan to hire a mule +occasionally, as one needs repose, or in order to carry any +considerable weight for a short distance over some high pass.</p> + +<p>I presuppose therefore a traveller upon foot carrying his +own pack, and I will now lay down certain rules which my +experience has taught me to apply to this kind of excursion.</p> + +<p>I shall speak later of what sort of kit one should carry, +what amount of provision, etc.; and I shall also speak later +of the nature of camping in these hills; but these two main +things do not cover the whole business, and the more you know +of the Pyrenees, the more you will find them enemies unless +you observe the laws which they teach you in the matter of +exploring them.</p> + +<p>Now, the first and the most essential of these laws to regulate +your travel is to make certain of no one distance in any one +time. Do not say to yourself “I will leave Cabanes” (for +instance) “and will sleep the night in Serrat.” Such +plans are too easily made at home or on the plains. One +measures the distance upon the map, and the thing seems<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span> +simple enough. One may be lured into security by starting +in fine weather or over easy ground, but <i>unless you have been +over the place before</i>, never make a plan of this kind, and even if +you know the territory, beware of the false confidence which +comes so easily in the plains, when one has forgotten the terrors +of the high places.</p> + +<p>Here are two examples within my own experience to show +what dangers attend this sort of confidence, the first taken +from the Aston, the next from that very easy place, the Canal +Roya; and remember that nothing I am saying has to do +with the fantastic exercise of climbing, but only with straightforward +walking and scrambling.</p> + +<p>A companion and I had settled to force in 36 hours the +passage from the Aston valley into Andorra. There is a path +marked upon the map; the way is apparently quite clear and +one might have made sure that with provision and calculation +for one night, nothing could prevent one’s reaching the first +houses of the Andorrans. On the contrary, this is what +happened.</p> + +<p>The first evening was mild and beautiful, the sky was clear, +the path at first plain. It was so plain that we did not hesitate +to continue it after dark. Here was a first mistake, and +the breach of a rule I shall insist upon when we come to +camping. Still, it was not this error which destroyed us.</p> + +<p>We slept the few hours of darkness under a thorn bush before +a most indifferent fire, and the next morning we began our +way.</p> + +<p>We came almost immediately after sunrise to a place where +the valley bifurcated, and that in so confused a manner, with +so many interlacing streams and so unpronounced a ridge +between the main bodies of water, that we took the wrong +ascent by the wrong stream, and only found, when we had +ended in a precipitous cul-de-sac, that we had made an error. +We went back to the bifurcation (which, remember, was of +that confused sort where nothing but a very large scale map is +of any use), and we made up the other stream. The hours +which we had lost had brought us into the heat of the day, +and the day was exceptionally hot. We climbed a shelving<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> +slope at the end of this further valley: a matter of 2000 feet, +very steep and rough. When we were already near the +summit there bowled over towards us from beyond it, without +the least warning, a violent storm. We were so close to the +top, and there was so little shelter on the open rocks we were +ascending, that we thought it well to gain the summit before +halting. On the whole the decision was wise. We found overhanging +ledges upon the summit and took refuge there until +the worst of the downpour had ceased. But the storm left +behind it a mass of drifting cloud, now rising and now lifting, +which made it quite impossible to determine what our true +way should be. The summit of the slope was an open grass +saddle with great boulders dotted about, and from this saddle +a man might go down one of three declivities which branched +southward from it. There was no seeing any complete view +of the valleys below even in the intervals of the drooping +clouds, for, as is so frequently the case in these steep hills, +there was a great deal of “dead ground” just below us. We +had to guess which of the undulations of the summit we should +follow, we could not be certain until we had gone down some +hundreds of feet that we had definitely entered an enclosed +valley, but once on the floor of this we were fairly certain by +our general direction that we had crossed the main watershed +and were in Spain. The storm renewed itself; the late hour +made us anxious, we pushed on through the driving mist and +rain, necessarily losing a consistent view of the contours and +the windings of the valley; when the sky cleared again we saw +before us a great open gulf stretching down for miles and +miles, and the very amplitude of the prospect further deceived +us into believing that we were certainly descending into the +first of the Spanish open places, but hour after hour went past +and no sign of men appeared. There were not even any huts +in the Jasses. To confuse us still further and to lead us on in +our error, a definite path suddenly appeared; we naturally +made certain that it was the head of the valley road upon the +Spanish side. So confident were we that we <i>must</i> by the map +and by all common sense be now close to habitations that, +after consulting together a little, we thought it wiser to eat<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> +what little provisions remained so as to gather strength for a +last effort, than to camp hungry and reserve our food for the +morrow. When we had so eaten it grew dark; hour after +hour of the night passed, and the path was still plain—but +there was no sign of men. By midnight we were dangerously +exhausted and incapable of pushing further: we lay down +where we were by the side of a stream and slept. The morning +of the third day we might well enough have failed to reach +succour. We had come to the end of our powers, we had no +more food and it was only the accidental encounter with a +fisherman who happened to be thus far up in the hills that +guided us to safety. He told us that by choosing that particular +one of the three slopes we had come down, not upon the +Spanish side, but into a long curving valley that had led us +back again into French territory. We had made a circle in +those forty-eight hours of strain and certainly had we not +found him our getting home at all would have been doubtful.</p> + +<p>Now these errors, for which there seems very little excuse +when they are set down thus in print, were not only natural, +but as it were, necessary. Anyone unacquainted with the +district <i>might</i> have made them, and under our circumstances +<i>would</i> inevitably have made them. Nothing but a large +scale map—which does not exist—would have saved us the +hours lost at the bifurcation of the streams, and not even a +large scale map could have properly decided us at the confused +summit of the pass where a full view, which the storm had +prevented, was necessary to judging one’s direction. The +true remedy lay not in maps, however perfect, but in allowing +for the chances of error, in taking a full three days’ provision, +and in avoiding that sort of forced marching which had +exhausted us, and which we had only undertaken from fears +about our remaining stock of food.</p> + +<p>The other matter, that of the Canal Roya, is the more significant +in that it was quite a little detail that might have +betrayed us into a very nasty situation. I knew the Canal +Roya, and acting on the strength of that knowledge, my companion +and I decided late one summer evening not to camp in +the valley but to push on over the pass at the head of it, for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> +immediately beyond this pass we knew to lie the good new +modern high road which leads down to Sallent. The pass was +marked on the map in the clearest possible fashion, the valley +was of a very particular and decisive shape, and the pass lay +straight over the end of it. Now at that end was a sweep of +high land, and rising up from it two rocky peaks. The map +and the general trend of the land made it certain that the pass +would go to the right or to the left of the lowest of these two +rocky peaks. There was no difficulty of approach, and one +unacquainted with the Pyrenees might have thought that it +mattered little which side of the peak one took, but we both +knew enough about the mountains to be sure that there was +one way and only one way across; smooth and easy as the +approach appeared from our side, all the chances were that +somewhere upon the other side there would be precipices. +The sun was getting low, and the path which we had been +following was suddenly obliterated under a new-fallen mass +of scree. Neither of us can to-day ascribe what we did to +anything but luck. We looked at the peak carefully and +determined that a certain little notch upon the <i>right</i> of it, was +the port. We were fatigued after nearly 20 miles of walking +(which had already included one Col) and we wearily began +the last ascent. It so happened that as we painfully toiled +up over and round the loose boulders, the surface to the +<i>left</i> of the peak became more and more inviting. Our doubts +as we surveyed it were like the conflict which goes on in daily +life between instinct and reason. Every bit of thought out +reasoning put the port at the little notch on the <i>right</i>, but every +temptation which could assail two tired men, made us hope +and wish against reason that it lay over the smooth grass to +the <i>left</i>; at last in a cowardly and (as it turned out) salutary +moment, we broke for the grass. We tried to persuade ourselves +that if that smooth round sward was a cheat, and +betrayed (as such enticements often betray in the Pyrenees) +nasty limestone cliffs on the further side we still had daylight +and strength enough to come down again and to go up +to the rugged notch to which reason and duty pointed. We +reached the grass and there found two things, first, the path<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> +which had been lost on the stones and the scree suddenly reappeared +<i>there</i>, and secondly, the descent on the further side +towards Sallent was as easy as walking down an English hill.</p> + +<p>The reason of this apparent error in the map we soon discovered. +Out of sight, beyond the Col, was yet another rocky +mass, to the left. The scale of the map was not sufficient to +indicate every mass of rock, upon this ridge, but the map, as a +fact, did indicate this peak which had been hidden from the +valley and was unable specially to indicate the other peak +which had been more prominent to us as we walked up from +below. The adventure ended well for we got on to the main +road before dark and to Sallent before nine, having covered in +that accidentally successful day close upon 30 miles. But it +might have ended, and should in reason have ended, very +differently. For when we looked at the Sallent side of the +range the next morning we saw that this notch on which we +had first directed ourselves would have led to a perfectly +impossible fall of rocks upon the further side. It would have +been equally impossible to have gone back in the dark. We +should have spent the night on a high stony ledge, without a +fire and without shelter and without food, and the next day +we should have had no choice but to come down again into +the Canal Roya, utterly exhausted, certainly without the +strength to climb up again by way of experiment upon other +issues, but bound to make our way, if we could, to Canfranc, +miles away down the Aragon Valley. It is not certain that +we should have had the strength to do this. These examples +and many more that one might give, prove the inadvisability +of any plan that does not allow for a wide margin of delay: +and, as I have said, a margin of three days is not too ample.</p> + +<p>Not only a misjudgment of topography, to which these hills +particularly lend themselves, may put one into a hole of this +sort, but mist may do it, or worse still, a sprained ankle. Or +one may find oneself cut off by marshy ground, or 20 or 30 +feet of sheer cliff, too small for the map to mark, may take one +an hour out of one’s way. In general, allow three days’ provision +for any task, and never plan single days in the Pyrenees +unless you are following a high road.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span></p> + +<p>A second rule is to take the first part of the day slowly and +yet without halting. It is the morning usually that gives you +your best chance upon the heights, and such examples of mist +as have endangered any of my excursions have fallen usually +from mid-day onwards. Apart from the danger of mist, if you +break the back of the day by ten or eleven, before the first +meal, you are safe for the end of it; and breaking the back +of the day usually means getting over a port.</p> + +<p>A third rule is, stick to the <i>path</i>, and if the path seems lost, +cast about for it with as much anxiety as you would for a scent.</p> + +<p>I have already said in speaking of the use of maps in the +Pyrenees, that the great advantage of the 1/100,000 map was the +clear way in which it marked the <i>paths</i>. The idea of paths +does not fit in very well with the wild life which the Pyrenees +promise one as one reads of them at home, and it is of importance +to know what a Pyrenean “Path” is, and why such +tracks are essential to travel in these mountains.</p> + +<p>It is perfectly true that if you are going to camp and fish, +or ramble about certain small districts for your pleasure, +the point is unimportant, but if you are making a journey from +one place to another, upon a set itinerary, a very little experience +in the mountains will show you that a “path” must be +known and followed, nor do the inhabitants of these hills, +whose experience is based upon so many centuries, underestimate +the value of these slight and <i>sometimes imperceptible</i> +tracks. On the contrary, you will hear one of the mountaineers +carefully indicating to some fellow of his, who has not +yet made a particular crossing, how to find and keep the <i>path</i>. +You do not hear him giving general indications of scenery, +nor distant landmarks, but particular directions as to how +the path may be made out in passages where it is difficult to +trace.</p> + +<p>The reason that these tracks are essential to Pyrenean travel +lies in that formation of the hills which I have already often +mentioned, a formation which causes them to be broken everywhere +with sharp descents of rock down which no man can +trust himself, and many of which are overhanging precipices. +It also lies in the peculiar complexity of the tangled ridges<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> +so that not even with a good map and a compass can you be +certain of guessing your way from one high valley into another.</p> + +<p>Now the interest of these paths is that they are not, as the +mention of them suggests to one unacquainted with these +mountains, definite and continuous. Even the most frequented +of them have difficulties of two kinds. The first +difficulty is the crossing and multiplicity of tracks as one +approaches a pasture, the second is the loss of the way over +certain kinds of soil.</p> + +<p>Wherever people go to cut wood, or to lead their flocks on +to enclosed fields known to them, a divergent path appears +and it is often difficult to tell the main path from the branch +one. Save over very well-known ports these paths are not +made-ways; they are never mended or laid down, they are +but the marks left by travel which is sometimes that of but +one man on foot in a week, and that man shod in soft and +yielding sandals that leave little impress. For many months +in the year these faint traces are covered with snow, and in +early summer they are soaked in the melting of it. No money +is voted for them, and if here and there the crossing a rivulet +or the getting past a difficult corner of rock has been artificially +strengthened, this will only be upon the main ways and usually +only near the villages. A Pyrenean path is the vaguest of +things: it is a patch of trodden soil here and there, a few worn +surfaces of rock, then perhaps a long stretch with no indication +whatsoever. Yet upon this chain of faint indications with +only occasional lengths marked, your life depends; and the +finding and picking of it up has the same sort of interest and +excitement as the following of a scent or a spoor.</p> + +<p>There are three kinds of soil over which the path is almost +invariably lost. The first is swampy land, the second is any +broad stretch of clean grass, the third is scree.</p> + +<p>Loss in swampy land is rare, for the simple reason that the +path avoids such land; loss on scree is often made good towards +the end of the summer by the passage of men and +animals whose treading down of the loose stones can be noticed +from place to place, but intervals of grass are most baffling. +The native knows where to pick up the track again upon the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> +further side; the foreigner has no chance but to guess, from +the last direction it took, where he is likely to find it again. +He will almost invariably be wrong, and then he must cast +about in circles until he finds it upon the further side of the +pasture, entering a wood or picking its way between gaps of +rock. There is a lacuna of this sort on the perfectly easy way +up the Peyréguet, and it cost me last year three valuable hours; +for easy as the Peyréguet is—and it is little more than a plain +walk—if you get too much to the right of it, there is a slope +on the further side that a goat could not get down.</p> + +<p>So much for the importance of <i>Paths</i> in the Pyrenees. It is +a point very difficult to make in print, but one which +the reader, if he intend to walk there, will do well to take on +faith. Make the 1/100,000 map your infallible authority, don’t +expect to find on the black line it gives—especially if it is a +dotted line—more than the merest string of indications, +often separated by very wide gaps, and regard the discovery +and continuity of these indications as vital to your safety.</p> + +<p>I now turn to equipment.</p> + +<p>The first question asked by an Englishman about to +attempt fresh journeys will be what things he must take +with him from England. My answer is. Two things only, +his woollen clothing and a pannikin. With regard to this +last, the best form is one which I myself get from the Army +and Navy Stores, and which is of the following character. +The handle is double-hinged, and curved, so that it fits to +the outside curve of the pannikin. A spirit-lamp is sold +which just fits into the interior, and with it, a curved metal +receptacle for methylated spirit which also fits into the +interior. The whole is bound together by a strap, passing +through staples upon the sides, and through one upon the +cover. The advantage of carrying this sort of pannikin lies +entirely in its compactness. Weight counts. Every ounce +counts when you are knocked out upon the third day; and +the third day—the forty-eighth hour of losing your way and +of missing human succour—may happen to you oftener than +you think.</p> + +<p>Weight counts even upon the first day, after the first few<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> +miles. Weight counts all the time. Now it so happens +(why, I cannot tell) that when things are packed in a close +compass they weary a man less than when they are loose +and straggling, and there is the further recommendation that +when they are closely packed, there is less chance of knocking +them about and hurting them. So this is the kind of pannikin +I recommend. Note, that the people who know most about +these hills, the inhabitants of them, carry no provision for +cooking. But there is a reason for this which does not +apply to the traveller I have in view. The inhabitants of +these valleys walk from a house to a house, with the chance +of one night at most in the mountains; they carry with +them, bread, cold meat and wine, and for the night they +make a great fire for warmth but not for cooking. A person +exploring at random, and liable to pass several nights in the +open, must have the chance of getting a warm meal, and that +opportunity will make all the difference if ever he finds +himself, as he probably will very frequently, in a tight place. +As to the woollen clothing, no one needs to hear the merit +of that, and nowhere can it be got so good or so cheap as +in England. Everything upon you should be of wool, except +your boots. The differences of temperature are excessive, +you are certain to be frequently wet, you will not have a +change; good wool is, moreover, the substance that will +wear least in the rough-and-tumble of your going.</p> + +<p>In this connexion I must speak of socks. Those who +know most about marching, wear none, and for marching +along roads it is a sound rule (startling and unusual as that +rule may sound) to have the skin of the human foot up +against the animal skin of the boot, that boot being well +soaked in oil and pliable. There is no form of foot covering +within the boot that does not chafe and tear and therefore +blister the skin, if one goes a long way at a time, and for +many days of continual tramping on end. That is the +general rule, and in the French service it is universally recognized +in the infantry. Now, to the particular kind of going +which these mountains involve that rule does not apply, +because, as we will see in a moment, boots are not what one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span> +commonly wears. You must therefore take woollen socks—two +pairs.</p> + +<p>If woollen clothing and the pannikin I have described are +to be purchased in England, where are you to get the rest +of your kit, and of what kind will it be?</p> + +<p>You must purchase it in any one of the towns of the foothills, +and the nearer to the mountains you buy it, the better +for you, since the further out you are upon the plains, the +more they look upon you, with justice, as a fool who will +buy bad or useless material at too dear a rate, and lose, waste, +or destroy it in a very few days, a mere tourist to be fleeced. +Buy at St. Jean Pied-de-Port, at Tardets (admirable town!), +at Bédous, at Laruns (where the people are hard-hearted), +at Argelès (where they are too used to tourists), or at Ax. +Buy, if you can, <i>in the fairs</i>: to these the mountaineers come +down to sell their wares and one can bargain, and as for +bargaining, I will tell you the prices of things as I proceed. +But of all things do not put off purchasing till you are <i>deep</i> +in the range. Do not buy south of Ax, for instance, nor +north of Jaca. The materials grow scanty and bad.</p> + +<p>The things you will need are four: first you will need a +gourd, next sandals, next +a sack, and lastly a +blanket.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus09" style="max-width: 25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus09.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>As to the gourd. The +gourd is the universal +vessel used throughout +these mountains, and its +use extends from an +indefinite distance upon +the Spanish side (where +it is universal) to the +towns of the plains upon +the French side: to +Oloron that is, Mauléon, +Foix, St. Girons, and the rest. It is a leather bottle of an +oval shape, made in all sizes from a quart to a gallon, and +this picture represents the structure. It is in three parts:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span> +the oval leather case (<i>a</i>), which is made of goat’s skin with +the hair inside; the top (<i>d</i>), which is made of goat’s horn, +with a mouth from an inch to half an inch across, and the +nozzle (<i>e</i>), which screws on to this top and is pierced by a +tiny hole (<i>g</i>), through which one drinks, also made of goat’s +horn. There is a fourth part if you will, the little stopper (<i>h</i>), +which screws on to the nozzle, and is made of the same +material and tied by a string to the mouth of the gourd for +fear of losing it. On the inner edge of the leather bottle +are two leather loops through which to pass the string, by +which the whole thing is carried over the shoulder.</p> + +<p>Remember that the name for this invaluable instrument +(one has a right to call it invaluable, for it saves the lives +of men) is <i>Gourde</i> on the French side, and <i>Bota</i> upon the +Spanish. This detail is not unimportant, for in many French +villages they have never heard of a <i>Bota</i>, and certainly in +no Spanish villages have they ever heard of a <i>Gourde</i>. It is +in this convenience that one carries one’s supply of wine. +The horn nozzle on top (<i>g</i>) screws off, the wine is poured into +the mouth (<i>d</i>) through a funnel, until the gourd is completely +full; one then screws the top (<i>g</i>) on again, and the little +stopper (<i>h</i>) into that. When one wants the wine to pour +into one’s mouth or into one’s mug, one screws off no more +than the little stopper which protects the hole in the nozzle. +If you can learn the proper way of drinking out of the small +hole pierced in the horn-work, do so. It saves an infinity +of delays, and it is the universal method of drinking throughout +the Pyrenees. Here is one of those practical things in +the trade which you can never get by book learning, and +which one can only learn by doing them, nevertheless I will +describe it.</p> + +<p>Unscrew the little stopper (<i>h</i>) and let it hang by its string; +take the double horn top piece (<i>d</i> and <i>g</i>) in the left hand, +and grasp with your right the bottom of the leather bottle; +tilt the whole up, squeeze slightly with your right hand, held +high in the air, and let the thin straight stream of wine from +the little hole (<i>g</i>) go straight into your open mouth; then +(to paraphrase Talleyrand’s famous phrase to the Maker of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span> +Religions), “if you can possibly manage it,” let it go down +without swallowing; if you swallow you are lost.</p> + +<p>For Talleyrand well said to the Maker of Religions, after +having described to him how, to found a religion, he should +first suffer obloquy: how he should be ready to stand alone +and the rest of it, then added, “If you can possibly manage +it,” work a few miracles: and this kind of drinking also +seems at first miraculous. But it can be accomplished; all +it needs is faith, and that strength of will which overcomes +the subconscious reactions of the body.</p> + +<p>Do not swallow. When you think enough has poured +down your throat, do three things all at the same time: +relax the pressure of your right hand, tilt the gourd that +you are holding upright, and put the forefinger of your left +hand smartly down upon the hole in the nozzle. For the +first few hundred times you will spill upon yourself a little +wine, but in the long run you will learn, and you will drink +as neatly and as cleanly as any Basque or Catalan.</p> + +<p>If you do not learn to use this instrument thus, you will +be compelled to carry a glass, which is not only difficult but +dangerous; and if you compromise by using the gourd, but +pouring the wine into a cup, it would either take you infinite +time through the nozzle, or else you will have to unscrew +the main top piece (<i>e</i>) of the gourd, and if you do that too +often it will certainly leak.</p> + +<p>These are the elements of the use of the gourd, but, like +all things noble, the gourd has many subtleties besides. For +instance, it is designed by Heaven to prevent any man +abusing God’s great gift of wine; for the goat’s hair inside +gives to wine so appalling a taste that a man will only take +of it exactly what is necessary for his needs. This defect +or virtue cannot be wholly avoided, but there is a trick for +making it less violent, a trick advisable with an old gourd, +when one is starting out on one’s journey, and absolutely +essential with a new one. This trick consists of pouring +into the gourd somewhat over half a pint of brandy and +shaking it well up and down, and after that carrying it for +a few hours, jolting about and irrigating all the hairy inwards<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> +of the bottle as one goes. But do not imagine that the +brandy so used can be drunk; when you have thus used +it for a few hours it must all be poured away, for it is wholly +spoilt. By the way, if you can get an old gourd second-hand +that does not leak, it is far preferable to a new one; +all things really worth having are better old than new. As +to the price of a gourd, you will not get a small one of a +quart or two for less than 8 to 10 francs, nor a large one from +a quarter to a half gallon or upwards at less than an extra +3 or 4 francs for every quart. Gourds are not things to haggle +about. Satisfy yourself that it does not leak and be grateful +to get a sound one. It will last you all your life. As to +weight, a gallon is ten pounds: a quart is two pounds and +a half.</p> + +<p>Further, you will find very often that when your gourd +is empty, especially if you have carried it empty upon a +cold and misty morning, the inside sticks together, and when +you try to blow it out through the mouth (as is advisable, +before pouring in the wine), no effort of yours can swell it; +the trick is to put it before a fire and warm it gently; after +it has warmed about ten minutes, it will swell easily.</p> + +<p>As to the sack, nothing is more difficult than to advise +upon this matter. Some men to be happy must carry a +block, and pencils, and colours, and brushes. Others cannot +live without combs. Nothing is really necessary besides +bread and meat. Each traveller must decide his own minimum, +but I can give advice both as to the shape and the +weight of the sack. The people of the hills, when they carry +a sack, carry a light bag slung by a strap over the shoulder, +and for a light weight, up, say, to seven or eight pounds, +that is the most practical equipment: thus what we call +in England a satchel, and what the French call a Havresac +does very well. For anything heavier a knapsack is often +advised; but there are disadvantages in the knapsack: it +is complicated, one cannot get at it without taking it off, +and it is hot to the back. If you will be at the pains of a +knapsack, always have one that is watertight in material, +with a large overhanging flap, and never burden yourself<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> +with a knapsack which has outside pockets. The value of +a knapsack for heavy carriage is that the weight of it comes +right down on to the build of the body. Weight is quite +a different thing, when it sags, backward or sideways, from +what it is when it presses right down upon the framework +of a man’s bones. That is why all those used to carrying +very heavy weights habitually carry them upon the head +or the shoulders, the human body is built for taking a strain +in this way down the length of the bones. Now if you +carry the haversack by a strap over the shoulder, any appreciable +weight, even one so small as ten kilos, becomes a grievous +burden after a short distance. Light weights, under that +amount, can be so borne, but directly <i>upon</i> the shoulders +weights up to forty pounds can be carried without destroying +a man’s marching power, and indeed both French and English +armies have often repeatedly climbed the mule tracks of +these very hills carrying such weights in this fashion.</p> + +<p>It must, however, be remarked in connexion with the +knapsack that it will not save you fatigue unless the weight +bears right down upon the crest of the shoulder blades, and +in order to ensure this, make certain of three things. First, +that the shoulder straps come well down the knapsack, so +that a good part of the weight is above the point where +they are sewn on; secondly, that your knapsack is so packed +that the weight is at the top, that no heavy things sag towards +the bottom; and thirdly, that you have strings or straps +going from the shoulder straps in front to a belt round your +middle, whereby you can brace up the knapsack whenever +it begins to lean away backwards. Every soldier knows the +difference between a knapsack fitting close to the back and +coming well above the shoulder, and one that drags away +backwards.</p> + +<p>To have said so much about the knapsack may mislead +some of my readers. I would not advise it; it is only necessary +if for some reason or other you want to carry weight. +If you are wise, and content to take only the necessary, a +haversack slung at the side from the shoulder will do perfectly +well, and it has the advantage of being get-at-able at any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> +moment. You may balance the weight of it by carrying +the gourd slung over the other shoulder.</p> + +<p>As to sandals—Many an Englishman will understand the +need of the gourd and the sack who will not understand the +advantage of sandals. All the Pyrenean people, for the +matter of that, most Spaniards, travel not in leather boots +but in cloth slippers with a sole made of twisted cord, and +to these the French give the name of sandals. But, as in +the case of the gourd, the name suddenly changes on the +Spanish side. In France you must ask for <i>Sandales</i>, in +Spain for a pair of <i>Alpargatas</i>. The advantage of these is a +thing of which you can never convince a man the first time +he attempts these mountains, but he is sure enough of it at +the end of his first day. For some reason or other, the loose +stones and the pointed rocks of a mule path make travel +upon foot intolerably painful and difficult if it is too +long pursued in ordinary boots. With <i>Alpargatas</i> on, you +do not feel the fatigue of a track that would finish you +in 5 miles if you tried to do it in leather. And conversely, +oddly enough, a high road with a good surface soon becomes +as intolerable in Alpargatas as is a mule track in boots. +There is nothing for it but to leave your boots at the nearest +town, if you propose to return to it, or if you do not, to +carry them with you and change from one footgear to the +other as you pass from the mountain to the road, and from +the road to the mountains.</p> + +<p>Remember that, in Alpargatas, you will <i>always</i> end the +day with wet feet. Let not that trouble you. They dry at +once before the camp fire and they do not shrink. The +reason you will always have wet feet is that in every few +miles of hills you have to cross a marshy place or a stream. +But though it is easy to dry Alpargatas in a few minutes, it +is advisable to change socks at night, while those you have +worn during the day dry before the fire.</p> + +<p>As to the blanket—No more than any of the inhabitants +can you go through these hills without a blanket. It is often +of the greatest use in the changes of weather during the day, +it is absolutely necessary at night. Were you to take it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span> +from England, you would certainly take one that would be +too heavy, or if you took a light one, one that would be too +cold. The people of the Pyrenees who have thought out +these things slowly for thousands of years, have ended with +the right formula. They have a thin, close, narrow blanket, +which just protects a man and protects him as much by its +double fold with the air between as by its texture. Get one +of a neutral colour, a sort of dark slate grey is the commonest, +and pay from 30 to 50 francs for it.</p> + +<p>With these five things, a pannikin from England, a gourd, +a sack, sandals, and a blanket, you are equipped. You +cannot take less, you need not take more, and if you take +more you will certainly repent it.</p> + +<p>I have said nothing about tents. The tent like twenty +other luxuries is taken for granted in England. I have +heard of people roughing it in various mountains who took +with them not only a tent, but an india-rubber bath, a +Norwegian kitchen, and for all I know, collars as well. But +many a man who will have had the sense to get rid of his +luxuries when he begins scrambling, will be reluctant to give +up the tent, for it seems necessary to be at least dry. Now +the arguments against having a tent have always seemed +to me final, so far at least as the Pyrenees were concerned.</p> + +<p>You are dealing here with a great expanse of mountain +in which weather is very variable, but in which you do not +have snow or prolonged furious weather during the months +you are likely to travel in. This argument is enforced by +the peculiar structure of the mountains. Everywhere in the +Pyrenees you can find either rock shelter—and you find this +much more frequently than in any other part of the world I +have ever seen—or dense forests, or, on the bare upland +sweeps of grass, those stone cabins of the shepherds, upon +the shelter of which the inhabitants largely depend. These, +of course, are not very near one to another, but they are +always marked on the 1/100,000 French map, under the title of +<i>Cabanes</i>. The owners, when they have owners, never mind +one’s using them, and the only drawback about them is that +sometimes you make certain of using one particularly far<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span> +from mankind, and discover it to be all in ruins. One way +with another I have never known three nights upon the +Pyrenees which could not be passed in succession without a +tent, if the rules which I shall give for camping were properly +observed; and that is the experience also of those who have +spent their whole lives in these mountains.</p> + +<p>Next, let it be remarked that a tent is a great hindrance, +it is either very light—in which case it is always fairly useless—or +it is heavy, in which case there is an end to your free +going. As will be seen later, when I speak of the way of +settling for the night, there need never be occasion for such +a shelter, which, moreover, in high winds is more troublesome +than an animal or a child.</p> + +<p>If your equipment consist in no more than a gourd, pannikin, +blanket, sack, and sandals, what is your provision to be?</p> + +<p>You must never make your provision for less than forty-eight +hours, and it is better to make it for sixty. However +modest is your plan, always allow for two nights on the +mountain and for the better part of the third day as well. +Remember that you will start in the early morning from the +shelter of a roof, that you will therefore have a whole day +before you dependent upon your own resources, that if you +are making anything of an effort you will certainly camp the +first night, but if the weather goes wrong or you miss your +way or come upon any accident, you may very well have +to spend the second night out, and if you do this, the chances +are in favour of a long tramp and scramble on the third day +before you reach human beings again. All this will be +clearer to the reader when I come to speak of the accidents +of weather in these hills, but I may here mention as an +example of the truth of what I say that two companions +and myself were once held for exactly twenty-four hours in +a space of not much more than a square mile, and almost +within earshot of a high road and a village, and that yet it +was merely a piece of good luck towards evening—a fog +lifting just at the right place for a few moments—that saved +us from spending a second night out of doors. In work of +this kind the chief part of strategy is to secure your retreat, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span> +you cannot make even one day’s excursion without your retreat +involving at least another day and perhaps two. Therefore, +inconvenient though it be, you must have ample provision.</p> + +<p>The first element of this provision is bread, and you will +do well to allow a pound and half per man per day. Those +are the rations of the French army and they are wise ones. +If each man of a party carries a four-pound loaf, you have +just enough, but not too much for accidents. A man must +have bread, he can do without meat, and at a pinch he can +do without wine, but I know by experience that he cannot +depend upon any form of concentrated food to take the place +of the solid wheaten stuff of Europe. Half a pound of +bread and a pint of wine is a meal that will carry one for +miles, and nothing can take their place. For meat, you +will carry what the French call Saucisson, and the Spaniards, +Salpichon. You will soon hate it, even if you do not, as +is most likely, hate it from the bottom of your heart on the +first day, but there is nothing else so compact and useful. +It is salt pig and garlic rolled into a tight hard sausage which +you may cut into thin slices with a knife, and it is wonderfully +sustaining. If you like to carry other meat do so, but you +can live on salpichon and it means less weight than meat +in any other form.</p> + +<p>These two, bread and saucisson, are the essentials of +provision, but other provision hardly less essential should +be added to them, and the first of these extras is <i>Maggi</i>. +Maggi is a sort of concentrated beef essence, sold both in +France and in England, and to be got anywhere in the French +towns, but you will do well to make quite certain by laying +in a good stock of it in some large town, such as Bordeaux +or Toulouse or Paris itself, on your way south: I have +known the grocers of a Pyrenean town to be out of it. The +essence is packed in little oblong capsules which you buy +by the dozen, at about 2<i>d.</i> a capsule, and you will do well +to start with three or four dozen a man. They keep indefinitely, +they weigh next to nothing, and the great advantage +of them will be seen in what follows. You can, with two +capsules to a quart of water, make in a few moments a hot<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> +and comforting soup which quite doubles the nourishment +of your bread; with three capsules to a quart of water you +have a very strong soup, which will bring a man round a +corner of extreme fatigue. It is a food which can be prepared +in a moment under almost any conditions, and one which is +invaluable when you find yourself lost, especially if you are +cut off by thick weather, or in any other way exhausted. It +may seem an insignificant detail to tell the reader how to +prepare so simple a meal, nevertheless I will do so. It took +me a little time to learn, and he may as well be saved the +trouble. Each little cylinder of extract is contained in two +gelatine caps which fit together, you pull these off, you drop +the essence into a little water while it is warming, but it will +not melt of itself, you must crush it and mix it thoroughly +with the water, and then add more water, still stirring till +you have full measure. It needs no salt in the proportions +I have given.</p> + +<p>Further, you will do well to fill the little curved receptacle +in the pannikin with methylated spirit, and to carry an +extra provision of this in your sack. A pint is enough for +many days, and very often you have no occasion to use it +at all, but you may be caught in some wet place, or in a +rocky piece where there is no wood, or in one way or another +have a difficulty in making a fire; and even where you have +plenty of wood, a drop or two of the methylated spirit makes +you certain of the fire catching even in wet weather; of that +I shall speak when I come to camping. By the way, take +plenty of English matches and of two kinds, fusees and +others, and if you are carrying a sack and not a waterproof +knapsack, wrap your matches in a little square of india-rubber +cloth, for if there is one thing that imperils a man +more than another, it is to be caught in the hills without the +means of making a fire.</p> + +<p>As for brandy, the people of the hills themselves discourage +its use; it is, on the whole, best to have some with you, +only you must not depend upon it; it is quite honestly, under +the circumstances of climbing, what some foolish fanatics +think it under all conditions, that is, a medicine. If you<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> +take it when you do not need it it will fatigue you, especially +in high places. Such as you do take carry in a flask. The +gourd, as I have said, spoils it utterly.</p> + +<p>Here then you have the rules for equipment and for +provision, and I will sum them up before continuing.</p> + +<p>For equipment: Haversack or knapsack, a blanket, +sandals, a gourd, a pannikin fitted with spirit lamp and +spirit vessel, four pounds of bread for each man, a pound of +sausage, a pint of methylated spirits, and matches; to which +you may add, if you will, a length of candle, and one of +those little mica lanterns which fold into the shape of a +pocket-book, and three or four dozen capsules of Maggi. Fill +your gourd with wine as full as it will hold, you will need it. +So much for equipment and provision.</p> + +<p>As for the packing of it I have already spoken of this in +connexion with the knapsack. A few additional remarks +may be of use. See that your bread is always covered from +the air; to wrap it in paper is enough for this, and if it +will fit into the sack so much the better. Work if possible +a broad band of cloth into the straps where they catch the +shoulder, keep the straps short so that the weight hangs +high, carry the blanket loosely over either shoulder: it gives +far less trouble thus carried than it does when it is rolled +and tied over the chest. If you carry a knapsack, however, +roll the blanket tight upon the top of it, it will then incommode +you even less than when it is carried loosely. Wrap your +matches as I have said in a waterproof cloth (if you have no +knapsack), and wrap in the same the maps you need for +each particular climb; forward the rest by post to the town +for which you are making if it is in France; if it is in Spain, +don’t, for they will not get there.</p> + +<p>I had forgotten to mention that most useful thing, a pocket +compass. Take a large cheap one, and allow for the variation +when you put it on your map: but of using this and of +several other little points I will speak later. I have dealt +with what regards equipment: let me now speak of Camping.</p> + +<p>Camping in the Pyrenees differs from camping under any +other conditions that I know. The structure of the range,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> +its climate, and even the political condition of the valleys, +make it differ from camping in Ireland or in the Vosges, or +in those few parts of England where the wealthy will allow +plain men to indulge in this amusement. It is not the same +as camping in the Alps, in Savoy, or in the Apennines, or in +the Ardennes; and it is the particular conditions of camping +in the Pyrenees which made me say just now that one can +do without a tent.</p> + +<p>Though geologists are careful to describe the very varied +structure of the range, yet to the traveller one feature, +peculiar to these among all mountains, perpetually appears +common in every part of it, and that is the continual presence +of overhanging rock. I can remember no considerable +stretch in any main valley, not any in a crossing between +two valleys, where you are not perpetually finding examples +of this formation. It is this upon which one must first +depend for shelter. Next to such overhanging rocks one +must depend upon the great forests; lastly, upon the cabanes. +But before speaking of their various advantages rules of +time must be given, for upon the time of day chosen for the +halt the success of a camp will depend.</p> + +<p>I am speaking of course throughout these notes of the +warm weather alone; that is, of the end of June, July, +August, and the first part of September. Seasons vary, and +there are years when the whole of September may be included. +At the end of the season one may count, especially in the +eastern part of the Pyrenees, upon a sufficient succession of +fine nights to make camping possible; but if one comes +upon a streak of bad weather it will last, especially in the +western part, for three or four days, and it is better, if the +people of the valley foresee such weather, to let it go over +before taking the heights. Thunderstorms and very heavy +rain may happen upon any night in these mountains. They +are said (I do not know upon what authority) to be commoner +upon the French than on the Spanish side. More dangerous +than these, though less momentarily annoying, are the mists +which gather quite suddenly in the higher parts of the range, +and which as suddenly interfere with every form of travel.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span></p> + +<p>It is absolutely necessary, unless one is quite certain of +the finest weather, to cross the col or port, in the route one +has traced out for the day, before that day is far advanced. +The reason for this is twofold; first, that wood for a camp +fire is not usually to be found upon the higher slopes, secondly +that good water is not easily to be found there. It is further +necessary to choose the place for one’s camp an hour or so +before sunset, and it is wiser to make it even earlier. The +disappointments which I remember within my own experience +in this matter have nearly all proceeded from pushing on +from a likely place discovered in the afternoon; one so +pushes on in the hopes of finding a likelier spot before the +end of the day. Such an extension of one’s journey is nearly +always ended in a rough, unsuitable camp, sometimes without +a fire, and under the most uncomfortable conditions. When +therefore you have found in the course of the afternoon, the +shelter of good rock, overhanging a dry place by the stream +you are following, pitch upon it and do not regret the hours +you appear to lose.</p> + +<p>When you have chosen the place for your camp your +first act must be to gather at once as much dry, <i>large</i> wood +as you can find. The local customs in this matter are very +liberal. Even if you are quite close to a village, no one +grudges you the use of wood, and your only possible disturbance +will come from the frontier guards if you are so foolish +as to choose their neighbourhood, which, by the way, can +only be the case if you encamp near one of the few chief +crossings of the range. These may ask you questions and +make trouble, not for your gathering of wood, but for their +suspicion that you are smuggling.</p> + +<p>The temptation to gather only small wood is strong. It +always seems as though the branch you have chosen will be +large enough to last for some hours. But a little experience +of these fires will show you that nothing small enough for +you to drag will be too large for your purpose. The eight +hours or more during which you must feed the fire consume +a great deal of wood, and the keeping of the fire in depends +upon having large logs for its foundation. You will not, of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span> +course, be able to cut these into the right length, you will +have so to arrange them when the fire is once well started +that they burn through their middles. You can then, later, +shift into the centre of the flame the halves that fall aside. +If there is any breeze pile a few stones to windward of your +hearth, for you will have to sleep to leeward of the fire, and +an arrangement of this kind will break the force of the wind +and prevent the smoke and flame from coming too near +you. If the wind is too strong, you must make your fire and +your camp under the lee of some great rock, or it will both +burn out in a very short time and make itself intolerable to +those who depend upon it for warmth. For a wind that rises +in the middle of the night, you have, of course, no remedy; +short of heavy rain it is the worst accident that can befall +you. If you have enough wood make your fire of a crescent +shape with the hollow towards the wind. It is the warmest +and the best way. You must so arrange that in sleeping +you lie with your feet towards the fire, and your great provision +of wood must be brought quite close to hand otherwise, most +certainly, you will not have the energy to feed it in the few +wakeful moments of the night. That wood should be somewhat +green or wet matters little if you have a great fire well +started, but if you let it get low while you sleep, it will be +impossible to revive it, and when the fire fails, there is an +end to sleep for every one. It is impossible to say what the +effect of such a fire is by giving reasons for it; it does not +perhaps warm one so much as do something to the air which +makes sleep possible and easy without a shelter, and it is +the universal aid and solace of all the Pyrenean mountaineers, +whom you will often find in groups, woodcutters or shepherds, +gathered round one of these great blazes for the night.</p> + +<p>The conditions of a good rock shelter, of a neighbouring +stream and plenty of wood, though common, are not universal, +and if from the structure of the hills and from the nature of +the map you fear you will not reach one, or if the greater +part of the afternoon is passed without your finding such a +place, your next choice must be a spot in one of the great +woods that everywhere clothe the range. They are more<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span> +common upon the French than upon the Spanish slope. +Here there is always cover from the wind, for they are very +dense, and even a partial cover from the rain, but it is +important to make your fire in a clearing, and luckily there is +nearly always a succession of open spaces between the forest +and the stream. With such a fire and with such an arrangement +to leeward of it the Pyrenean blanket with which you +have provided yourself will be ample covering for the night.</p> + +<p>As for using cabanes, I have already said that there is no +grudge felt against you for +doing so, but you must treat +any man coming upon you in +such a shelter as though he +were the owner, for the local +shepherds will certainly regard +you as their guest, and will +think they are doing you the +favour of a host. Moreover, +your fire, if you make one +here, must be lit outside the +building, though the local +people who use the cabanes +most constantly, will often +make it inside. On the whole +the night is more comfortably +spent in the open than in one of these shelters, unless one is +caught by rain.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp63" id="illus10" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus10.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The open sandy spaces such as are quite common by the +side of the larger streams may be used with safety. There +are no places where a spate will be so rapid as to endanger +one, unless one choose, as a companion and I were once +compelled to choose, a cave almost cut off by the water. +The only places where it is essential that one should <i>not</i> +camp, are the higher flats where wood is rare, and where the +cold of the night is exceptionally severe. It is a choice to +which one is often compelled, if one pushes on too long, after +having miscalculated the fatigues and duration of the climb; +but it is an error which one always regrets.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span></p> + +<p>A further recommendation is, <i>not to camp by the map</i>. The +map may look like <a href="#illus10">that on p. 131</a>, and one may say that one +will follow up the stream at one’s leisure. The reality may +turn out a series of ascending precipices, quite unassailable.</p> + +<p>But it is a great temptation. A man may have +known the Pyrenees and experienced time and again the +error of trusting to a map for a camping site, but there +is something so convincing about the print and the +colours that after years of experience one may commit +the same folly again. It was but this year that, trusting +to the 1/100,000 map, I planned to camp at the place where +the Cacouette falls into the main stream below Sainte +Engrace. I did not know the spot; it seemed to come at a +convenient hour in the ascent of the mountains: I should +be there about 5 o’clock. There was wood marked, good +water; it was on the lee side of the wind that was then +blowing from the south. When I came to it the place was a +sharp ledge of limestone higher than Cheddar cliffs, dotted +here and there with trees and affording between the wall of +rock and the water not three feet of ground. It was not to +be approached from above; it could not be reached from +below. A more impossible place for camping never was. I +had the same experience some years ago on the Aston, though +that was before I knew the Pyrenees well. There a place was +chosen by my companion and myself for its mixture of wood +and meadow upon the map, there were cabanes and apparently +plenty of good water; it was so plain on the map, that +one did not hurry to reach it before darkness; but when we +got there it was a marsh; no cabane appeared until daylight, +and there was even that very rare thing in the Pyrenees, +doubtful water. As for the wood that should have dotted +the pasture, it turned out to be tough little live bushes, and +all green, that would neither cut nor burn.</p> + +<p>There is one last and very grave danger of which I would +warn the reader in connexion with travel on foot in the +Pyrenees, with a map and even with a map and a compass. +Without map or compass it is more than a danger, it is a sort +of necessary misfortune perpetually attending men, and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span> +gravity of it is proved by the fact that the local people who +use neither compass nor map when they go into a district +with which they are unacquainted, carefully ask the marks of +the path and get themselves accompanied, if they can, by +someone who knows the country-side. This danger may be +called “Getting into the wrong valley.”</p> + +<p>As one sits at home, one thinks of the scheme of mountain +valleys too simply. One thinks of the stream as coming down +through a ravine with its head waters appearing below a definite +saddle or notch in the watershed. This stream, let us +say, is flowing north. One sees on the further side another +stream rising just on the other side of the notch and flowing +on through a simple valley, going to the south. The crossing +of the port between these valleys seems to depend upon no +more than physical endurance and fine weather. One goes +up one stream to the saddle, crosses the saddle, follows the +other stream downhill, and so makes one’s passage from +France to Spain.</p> + +<p>There are many passes of this simplicity, but there are many +more that, both between the lateral valleys and over the main +range, present the danger of which I speak, and which consists +in a complexity at a summit such that it is difficult in the +extreme to know—even when one is certain one has gone up the +right part of the hither slope—what one should do on the +thither.</p> + +<p>This danger of “getting into the wrong valley” cannot +be seized without illustration, and in the following rough +sketches I give examples of this.</p> + +<p>In the first example is a bit of country such as one +very often gets in these mountains with summits round about +the 2600 metre line and the last valleys under the ports somewhat +above the 2000. I have marked with hatching the +contours below 2200 and in black the summits above 2600. +The main watershed I have indicated by a dotted line.</p> + +<p>When one is crossing a port of this type one sees before one +from the summit a confused and gentle slope leading apparently +to one obvious valley on the far side like the obvious +valley out of which one has just ascended. It seems indifferent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> +whether one should come down on to this by M or by N, +to the left or to the right, yet the two valley floors to which +each leads are quite separate and may lead one round to different +river basins. How deceptive such a place is, the rough +sketch appended may help the reader to grasp. It shows the +kind of thing one sees from the summit of such a pass and how +indifferent the choice appears between the ways by which one +may descend.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus11" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus11.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>This type of confusion exists sometimes in a still more +dangerous form, as in the contour lines of sketch on next page.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus12" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus12.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>A man arrived at the port P climbing up from the valley Q, +which is deep and well defined, sees before him another valley +R exactly in line with the last, also deep and also well defined. +On either side of him, as he gets to the saddle, run high ridges +perpendicular to the line of the two valleys. It seems common +sense to take the watershed as running along these ridges and +across the port, and if Q is the French valley, R will be the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span> +Spanish one. As a matter of fact the watershed may not run +in this simple way at all, but (as indicated upon the sketch +map) take a sharp turn to the right. R may be a French +valley after all, and the proper way down into Spain may be +over the gradual grassy slopes indicated by the arrow line. +A man standing just at the port, and having a rocky ridge A +and the rocky ridge B to his left and right, sees before him the +obvious trench of the valley R and takes for granted that it +is the Spanish valley, whereas his true way is across the vague +grassy land towards S, and the watershed which he thinks runs +from B on to A really turns round from B and runs on to the +distant mountains before him.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus13" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus13.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus14" style="max-width: 25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus14.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span></p> + +<p>It must be remembered that on these summits all traces +of a path as a rule disappear. What is worse, indications of +a path may begin on the other side into the wrong valley and +not into the right one.</p> + +<p>A second type of this peril is that in which some feature upon +the ridge which looks quite unimportant upon the one side +turns out to be all-important upon the other. Thus a man +coming from A in the map below, where the valleys are +hatched and the highest summits are black, would have before +him the plain ridge B-C. It is indifferent where he crosses +it from that side, but on the far side he finds a confusion of +falling valleys, and if he does not pick out the right one he +may find himself in a few hours shut in by high walls which +constrain him to a journey he never meant to make. He +may have intended to follow valley (1), and so to reach food +and shelter, he may find himself in valley (2) caught for the +night far from men and with walls of 3000 feet between him +and them.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp96" id="illus15" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus15.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Sometimes this confusion takes the form of one’s being led +on to an obvious notch in the ridge before one: a notch lower +than the general line of the ridge which (one thinks) cannot but +be the port. When one has climbed to it, however, one finds +that the valley one was seeking lies far to the right or to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span> +left of such a notch, and that the gap which was so noticeable +on the one side of the pass corresponded to nothing useful +upon the further side.</p> + +<p>There is a good example of this under the peak called Negras +where an obvious notch which one thinks surely must be the +way over to the Gallego, leads to nothing more useful than an +enclosed Tarn under the precipices of the mountains.</p> + +<p>A sketch of the aspect of this particular ridge will make the +difficulty plain.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus16" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus16.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>All the contours upon the Aragonese side invite one to the +notch at N, yet the true way lies over the ridge between A and +B, and the nearer to B the better is the descent upon the +further side. Indeed at A it is perilous, at B it is a very +gradual descent of easy grass.</p> + +<p>The third type of mountain structure which may lead one +into the wrong valley is what may be called “The Double +Col.” It is damnably common and a good example of it will be +found in the track I describe later on in this book when I speak +of the short cut from the Ariège Valley into the Roussillon.</p> + +<p>The accompanying sketch will explain the character of this +sort of tangle, and it is most important that anyone unacquainted +with these mountains and wishing to learn them +should seize it thoroughly, for it is the worst of all the lures +that get a man astray.</p> + +<p>Observe carefully the numerous contours on <a href="#illus17">the sketch +map overleaf</a>. They are numerous because it is necessary to +show the minute details of such a case. I will suppose them +to be about 50 feet apart. The traveller is coming up the +valley marked V, the floor of which is marked in black upon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span> +the sketch, and the apex of which is, let us say, 6000 feet above +the sea; he climbs the last little slope of 250 feet and reaches +the col at C, which is 6250 feet above the sea. On this saddle +he has upon either side of him precipitous slopes, which lead +up to two summits of mountains upon the right and the left, +the one towards A, the other towards B. Right in front of him +opens another valley corresponding apparently to the valley +V from which he has come, and which we will call W. The +floor of this also is marked in black upon the sketch. It +will be observed from the contour lines that the descent on +to W is easy, though the walls bounding it on either +side become increasingly precipitous as one proceeds.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus17" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus17.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Hidden from him by rising ground upon the right, as he +stands at C, there is yet another valley, the floor of which is +also given in black. This valley we will call Y, and it is this +valley which leads the traveller towards his object; valley W +only gets him deeper into the wilderness. Both valleys W +and Y, are so precipitous that once engaged in either of them +one is caught and compelled to pursue them for many miles. +It is evident that on a very large scale map such as this, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span> +with full contour lines giving every few feet of height, the +traveller would make no error. Once at C he would go up to +the right around the base of mountain B, rising continually +until, somewhat under 6500 feet, he came to the second col, +D, which would bring him down into valley Y.</p> + +<p>But consider how this corner would look upon an ordinary +small scale map!</p> + +<p>The whole distance from the apex of valley V to the apex +of valley Y is not half a mile. It would occupy little more +than a quarter of an inch upon your French map. The general +trend and nature of the valleys, which the traveller shut in by +high mountains cannot grasp, would seem obvious upon such +a map and he would take it for granted that he could make no +error and that the passage marked from V to Y would be perfectly +plain sailing. It would never occur to him that he could +be trapped into the little ravine W leading nowhere and in no +way connected with his journey.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus18" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus18.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The map would look something like this, perhaps, giving +one a perfectly accurate general impression of the whole +country-side, but quite useless for the critical point C-D, the +difficulties of which nothing but numerous contours and a very +large scale can possibly explain. The traveller consults the +map, he sees the mountain group whose summits are A, H,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> +and K, with their heights marked, he sees the other mountain +group culminating at B with its height also marked, he see +the main valley V up the road of which he has proceeded with +the town in which he stopped and the river which he has been +following. He sees the pass clearly marked at C-D, leading +over to the further valley Y with its town, river, and road—and +the journey seems to present no difficulties. It is only +when he gets actually shut up in the hills at the heads of the +valleys that he may begin to doubt or to be misled. On his +map he could never believe that the little torrent W going +right round out of his direction could take him in, or that he +would get into its valley.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp93" id="illus19" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus19.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>If you consider what he actually sees when he gets to the +summit of the pass, you will appreciate yet more easily how +his error will come about. He will see something like this, +with an obvious way straight before him, and with nothing +to tell him that he must go up a second col, two or three +hundred feet above him to the right at D, if he is to get into +the right valley.</p> + +<p>It is in cases of this sort that Schrader’s map is so useful—so +far as it goes; but it only covers the quite central part of +the Pyrenees, and the contours are 100 metres apart.</p> + +<p>The particular ways in which one may get into the wrong +valley are innumerable, but these three types which I have +given include all the most common of them; and, of the three,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span> +the last which I have described in such detail is at once the +most perilous and the most common.</p> + +<p>While I am upon this subject of getting into the wrong +valley on the <i>downward</i> side, I ought to mention the tricks +which the map and one’s own judgment play upon one as one +goes <i>upwards</i>.</p> + +<p>Errors made as one follows the map <i>up a ravine</i> are nearly +always due to making a false estimate of distance. The path +may be lost for a considerable stretch, and the contours may +at first be puzzling, but if one will trust to one’s map and to +one’s compass one will never go far wrong, unless one misjudges +distance, and it is on this account that in the directions +I give below for particular places, I mean distance with what +care I can.</p> + +<p>Thus you may miss the path which branches off from the +main path from the valley of the Cinqueta to go eastward +over the Col de Gistian; but if you have made an accurate +estimate of distance, and trust to the measurements given, you +cannot fail to identify the stream up which that crossing lies.</p> + +<p>Nothing can replace judgment, but there is a rule of thumb +which is workable enough, and that is, save under conditions +of extreme fatigue, that your kilometre on a mule path hardly +ever takes you less than twelve minutes or more than fifteen. +I except steep climbing of course, but steep climbing only +comes at the port itself, or in quite unmistakable ravines and +gorges, where you will not lose your way. Where you lose +your way is in the Jasse, or in the bifurcation of main valleys, +and there, as you plod up your mule path, you will, as I say, +never take less than ten minutes over your kilometre (which +is a centimetre upon your map)—and you ought always to +have a little measure with you—nor will you ever take much +more than twelve, save when you are quite knocked out and +unable to calculate distance at all.</p> + +<p>These limits will seem narrow to those who have not experienced +such paths. But they are wide enough. You must +of course note the times during which you choose to stop, +and it is also true that if you make quite short halts for a +moment or two, of which you take no record, you will quite<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> +put out your calculation; but twelve minutes to the kilometre +is 3 miles an hour, fifteen is 2½ miles an hour, and if a +man gets over a level mule track in the early morning carrying +weight a little faster than the first pace, or on a steep part +at evening a little slower than the second, yet the occasions +when this rule of thumb fails are rare.</p> + +<p>When your watch tells you that by the distance measured +you should be approaching a bifurcation, or any other doubtful +place, halt and decide.</p> + +<p>If you do miss your way going upwards, or do take the wrong +valley, if, in a word, you are lost (as I was badly four years +ago, so that I have the right to speak of it), the first thing to +remember is that the path, if you will take it <i>downhill</i>, will +lead you at last to men. The rule about following running +water is all very well in many mountains of the ranges, but it +won’t do in the Pyrenees, for the running water very often +goes under sharp limestone cliffs, and if you don’t find your +way round or over them, you may spend more hours than are +safe in looking for a way out. They form a very complete +prison door, indeed, do these gorges.</p> + +<p>The path, I say, if you follow it downhill, will save you, but +if, when you find you are in the wrong valley, you attempt to +recover your track by going up the lateral ridge, you always +run a grave risk. It is by experiments of that sort that men +die from exhaustion. It is true that one is not usually tempted +to this extra effort. It is much easier to go on the way one +is going, and to follow the path down, though one knows it +is a wrong one, but there are occasions, especially late in the +day, when one has <i>all but</i> conquered the main crest of the range, +after perhaps one failure, and when one knows that one is lost, +when the idea of one vigorous effort to get over while it is yet +daylight is tempting. It is a fatal temptation.</p> + +<p>When you have made up your mind that you are lost, or +even when the map has told you so, pay no attention to anything +else about you or within you, such as the guess that such-and-such +a rock in front of one may hide such-and-such +a village, or the hope that your strength will hold out +for 12 or 15 hours without food, but at once behave like a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> +person in grave danger, that is, calculate your chances of +retreat, and think of that only, for I repeat, it is more easy +to die from exhaustion than in any other way in these hills, +and nearly all the people that perish in mountains perish from +that cause.</p> + +<p>When you have made up your mind that it is your business +to find men again, and that you do not know how far men may +be, first note your bread and wine and the rest, if any provision +is left; next determine to reserve it until nightfall: eat it +then, do not blunder on through the darkness (it is astonishing +what very little distance one makes after sunset, and every +half-hour of twilight makes it more difficult to camp)—sleep, +and take the first half of the next day without food; you are +reserving your very last rations until the noon of that day. +For one can do a considerable distance without food if the +effort is made in the early morning.</p> + +<p>Never bathe under such conditions of fatigue, and towards +the end, when you are exhausted, drink as sparingly as +possible.</p> + +<p>It is perhaps useless to give any hints about what a man +should do when he is lost, because men get lost in mountains +by hoping against hope and pushing on when common sense +tells them to return. But I write down these hints for what +they are worth. After my first bad lesson in the matter, I +found them fairly useful. Remember, by the way, if you are +lost and if there is no path apparent, that +a cabane even in ruins somewhere in the +landscape means a track visible or invisible, +and that any rude crossing of +the stream with stepping-stones or a +log means the same thing. But you must +not imagine that the presence or traces +of animals will prove a guide, for even +mules wander wild for miles on these +mountains in places where a man can +only go with difficulty and along random +tracks leading nowhere.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp46" id="illus20" style="max-width: 15.625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus20.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="VI">VI<br> +<span class="smaller">THE SEPARATE DISTRICTS OF THE PYRENEES</span></h2> + +</div> + +<p>For the purposes of travel upon foot, the range of the +Pyrenees falls into certain divisions, which are not +very clearly marked, but which arrange themselves +in a rough manner under the experience of travel. As +I come to deal with each of these, it will be seen that +there is not one which does not overlap its neighbour, +and it will be impossible to describe any mountain +district without admitting this overlapping to some extent, +because any valley connected by certain local ties with the +valleys to the east and west is also, as a rule, connected with +the valleys to the north or south of it. Still, the districts I +speak of are fairly distinct, and consist in (1) the Basque +valleys, (2) the Vals d’Aspe and d’Ossau, with the valleys of +the Aragon and Gallego to their south, which I will call “the +Four Valleys,” (3) the Sobrarbe, (4) the three valleys attaching +to Tarbes, to which I also attach the Luchon valley, +(5) the Catalan valleys and Andorra—in which I include the +Val d’Aran, (6) the Cerdagne (omitting the Tet and Ariège +valleys), (7) the Ariège and Tet valleys, (8) the Canigou.</p> + +<p>These I will take in their order, and I will begin with—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span></p> + +<h3 id="VI_I">I. <span class="smcap">The Basque Valleys</span></h3> + +<figure class="figright illowp88" id="illus21" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus21.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The valleys immediately adjoining the +point which we have taken for the +western end of the chain, that is, the +knot of hills just to the west of Roncesvalles, +which have for their pivot +Mount Urtioga, form one country-side +and should be considered together.</p> + +<p>They are the Baztan to the west, the first of the many +valleys into which the main range splits up like a fan as it +approaches the Atlantic; the valley of Baigorry, parallel to +it and immediately to the east; the valley called that of the +St. Jean in its lower French part, and that of Val Carlos in its +upper Spanish one; this valley stands eastward of Baigorry, +and unites with it before leaving the hills to join the valley of +the Nive. The two together, and the lower valley of the Nive, +are called by the common name of “The Labourd”; on the +south of the range comes the valley of the Arga and the plain +south of Roncesvalles: these make one division of the Basque +district. The same dialect of Basque is spoken throughout +the Labourd (there are variations upon the Spanish side), +the same type of house and of food and of hill is everywhere +around. The other division of the Basque valleys is the +French district of the <i>Soule</i>, just to the east with its corresponding +valleys south of the frontier.</p> + +<p>As to the Labourd and its accompanying Spanish valleys, +the space open for camping or wandering in this corner of the +chain is less than in the higher central part. The low round +hills are often cultivated to their summits, the valleys are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span> +always well populated, roads and villages are many, +and though there are one or two fine stretches of forest in +which a man can spend as many days as he chooses (notably +the forest of Hayra, which lies up southward at the far end +of the Baigorry), they are not to be compared in extent or in +wildness with the forests further east. The whole width of +the Hayra, counting both the French and the Spanish slopes, +is, at its greatest extent, not more than three miles. Its +length is not six. The small lakes also that are characteristic +of the Pyrenees throughout their length, are lacking here, and +the prosperity and industry of the Basques press upon the +traveller wherever he goes.</p> + +<p>If one would stay some three or four days in this district, +it is a good plan to leave the train at St. Etienne, just at the +beginning of the Baigorry valley. St. Etienne is the terminus +of the branch line which strikes off a few miles down the river +from the line connecting St. Jean Pied-de-Port with Bayonne, +and one gets to St. Etienne by the morning train from Bayonne +about mid-day.</p> + +<p>Immediately to the west of St. Etienne, connecting it with +the Baztan, lies the pass of Ispeguy. It is of course very low, +as are all these hills; it is little more than 1000 feet above St. +Etienne, or perhaps 1500, but from the summit there is a fine +view of the higher distant Pyrenees to the east. The frontier +runs here north and south, passes through the summit of the +col, down the further side of which an easy valley road leads +down on to the main highway of the Baztan.</p> + +<p>This highway is the modern representative of the track +which for many centuries connected Bayonne with Pamplona. +It was, until recent times, a mountain way; the main Roman +road went through Roncesvalles. It is now, as was seen when +we spoke of roads for driving and motoring, the best approach +from the French Atlantic coast into Navarre. From the point +where you strike this high road, where the valley debouches +upon it, and where the lateral stream you have been following +falls into the river Baztan, there is a walk down to the left, or +southward, of some 4 miles, into the town of Elizondo, which +means in Basque “The Church in the Valley.” For the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span> +Basques, like the Welsh, have the terms of their religion +mainly in the form of borrowed words, and the Greek Ecclesia, +which is “Egglws” in the Welsh mountains, has nearly the +same sound here, 800 miles to the south, and with all those +days of sea between. Christendom is one country.</p> + +<p>There is no easy journey from Elizondo down to the south +of the hills and back east again into the French valleys, unless +you go on to Pamplona, although of course there is nothing +high or steep to stop you, if you have plenty of provisions, +except the absence of maps (which do not exist for this district +upon any useful scale to my knowledge). If you want to make +a mountain journey of it without touching the town of Pamplona, +go down a mile or two from Elizondo to Iruita, where +the main road branches into two; thence going south and a +little east up the stream which comes down from the frontier +summits, you may go over a col between that valley and the +valley of the Esteribar, where the Arga rises. You will find +yourself at the first little Basque village, that of Eugui, by +evening; the total distance from Elizondo to Eugui, if you go +the shortest way, is only 20 miles. But, I repeat, it is a difficult +job. Maps are lacking, the valleys have many ramifications, +and the first part of your journey is all uphill for half the day. +If the weather is cloudy it is more than possible that you +will get into the wrong valley, and find at last, when you have +got over your col, and are following the running water on the +further side, that that running water is not the Arga at all, +but one of the streams that lead you back again into the +Baigorry. However, if you make Eugui in the Estribar, the +rest is simple: there are villages all round, connected by paths, +and not more than a mile or two from one another, and you +may go through Linzoian to Espimal and so to Burguete, +where you get the main road over Roncesvalles, without fear +of losing your way; for there are people everywhere.</p> + +<p>It is best, however, when you have slept in Elizondo, which +is a very pleasant little town, to take the motor-bus and get +on to Pamplona; for the Basques, who detest as much as +the Scotch to be behind the world, have a motor-bus along +this mountain road. From Pamplona next day you can go by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span> +the new road to Burguete, passing through Larrasoaña and +Erro. It is a long journey of nearly 30 miles; it can be +broken, if you choose, at Erro, but the sleeping accommodation +there is nothing very grand. If you push on beyond Burguete, +over Roncesvalles, you can, in something under 40 miles, get +to Val Carlos, the last town in Spain, and for those who can +walk 40 miles this is the best thing to do. If not, break the +journey in two at Erro, desolate as the little place is.</p> + +<p>The object of course of this walk is the Pass of Roncesvalles, +and the vast contrast between the slightly sloping Spanish +plain of Burguete, running up to the summit of the Pyrenees, +and the great chasm which opens beneath your feet when you +have reached that summit, and which forms the entry into +France.</p> + +<p>You will not easily make a camp in any part of this round, +and it is well to remember here, where first mention is made of +crossing the Spanish frontier, that the Spaniards will not let +a man leave their country unless he has due permission upon +a paper form. Why this should be so I do not know, and I +have very often gone in and out of Spain without telling the +authorities, as I have for that matter gone in and out of +Germany on foot, though the German officials are more stupid +than the Spaniards, and therefore attach much more importance +to such things. Still, it is safer to ask for your permit, +and it will be given you by a functionary called a “Corregidor,” +at Val Carlos. A few miles beyond, eight to be exact, +you are in St. Jean Pied-de-Port, which is the head of the +railway to-day, and which has been for nearly 1000 years the +depot town at the foot of the pass for armies and for travellers. +On this same flat where it stands, was the Roman fort and +depot, but not quite on the same place; it stood on the spot +now called St. Jean le Vieux, 2½ miles up the lateral valley. +This last was the halting place of Charlemagne in the famous +story, and St. Jean, as we see it, is a town not of the Dark but +of the Middle Ages.</p> + +<p>The next district to this of the Labourd, lying immediately +to the east of it, we have seen to be called the Soule. It is +also Basque, though it is Basque spoken with a different<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> +accent, and with certain verbal differences as well. The way +from one to the other lies through wilder and more likely land +for camping than is to be found in Baztan, Baigorry, or Roncesvalles. +It is a good plan, if one has the leisure, to approach +the Soule on foot by way of St. Jean, though the more ordinary +way is to go round through the plains by train to Mauléon +(which is the capital of the Soule).</p> + +<p>If one goes on foot directly across from the Labourd into the +Soule, he strikes that valley in its higher reaches, and well +above Mauléon.</p> + +<p>The shortest line, if one does not mind sleeping in a +mountain village, is to take the high road from St. Jean Pied-de-Port +to Lecumberry, and to follow that way up the valley +of the Laurhibar until the high road comes to an end. It did +so abruptly two miles or so beyond Laurhibar, some years ago, +but as it is being continued, one may follow it every year +further up the dale. The high road ends (or ended) about 10 +miles from St. Jean; and Lecumberry is the last <i>village</i> +still, however far the road may have progressed up the valley. +When the road ceases one must continue up the valley by a +path on the left bank of the stream. One soon finds on this +left bank a series of precipitous cliffs; one must there cross +over to the path upon the right bank. It is also possible to +keep to the right bank all the way—there is a track on either +side—but I speak of the usual way. Henceforward the path +remains quite clear and runs close alongside the stream, with +steep cliffs upon the further shore, until, in the last mile or +two, before the head of the valley, one enters a wood, and it +is here that, if you are not very careful, you will lose your way. +The contours are complicated, the valleys numerous, and the +alternation of wood and open land most confusing. But if +you will go <i>due east</i> by your compass from the point where you +entered the wood (abandoning the path where it crosses the +stream and goes over to the south), and if you will remember +always to turn any precipice or ledge of rock by descending +to the <i>left</i> of it, and always to <i>descend</i> after you have made the +first high open space, you will come upon a clear track not +quite three miles from the point where the path enters the wood.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span></p> + +<p>It sounds but a vague indication, but it is a sufficient one, +because bad precipices prevent you from going too much to +the right, and the natural tendency of man to go downhill +when he can will prevent you from going up on to the ledge +upon your left. You will find yourself shepherded—if you +always go as due east as is possible, and always turn a ledge of +rock to the <i>left</i>—into a track which runs all along the high +lands above the slopes that dominate the Brook Aphours; a +little way down, that track falls into a high road, and a few +miles further the road reaches Tardets, the central town in +the valley of the Soule, half-way between Mauléon and the +highest summits. The whole journey from St. Jean thus +described is a big distance, nearer 40 miles than 30, with windings +all the way, and you must be prepared if you become +fatigued or have bad luck with your weather, either to camp +out in the woods at the summit of the pass, or to sleep in the +first hamlet upon the eastern side.</p> + +<p>There is, indeed, a short cut which strikes the valley much +higher, but it is difficult to make and involves the climbing of +two cols. For this short cut the directions are as for the last, +until your path along the Laurhibar has struck the wood; +there, instead of leaving it when it turns south, and instead of +going east (as above), you must keep to the track. It will +cross the stream, still going due south, wind up between an +open space through the woods, and will point before you lose +it to the climb over the shoulder of the Pic d’Escoliers; it is +a stiff climb of nearly 2000 feet from the point where you +crossed the stream and very steep. The 2000 feet or so are +climbed in under two miles. When you get to the shoulder +of the peak a steep southern slope lies before you, diversified +and made perilous by rocks, and separating plainly into an +eastern and a western valley. Between you and the eastern +valley (which is that you must descend) are steep rocks; +they can be turned, however, by going to the <i>right</i> of them, +but the whole place is precipitous and difficult. The advantage +appears when once you are down on the floor of the valley +(which is but 1000 feet from the peak), for you come within a +mile to a clear path, and once you have come to this, you are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span> +in another two miles, at the village of Larrau, which is the +terminus of the great national road, and stands in the last +upper waters of the valley.</p> + +<p>If you approach the Soule by the more ordinary way you +will come by train through Puyoo, change there, and take the +train for Mauléon; and Mauléon, as I have said, is the capital +of the Soule. But the true mountain town is Tardets, half-way +up the valley. Tardets is the market town for all the +Basques of the hills, and you can never have enough of it, +both of its heavenly hotel, of which I shall speak when I come +to speak of hotels, and for its universal shops, and for its kindly +people. It stands in an opening of the lower hills, just before +the valley narrows and enters the high mountains, and you +may reach it from Mauléon by a tramway which runs up the +river as far as Tardets and then turns off to the left and goes +round to Oloron.</p> + +<p>If you approach the Soule in this manner, making Tardets +your starting-point, you will do well to equip yourself in that +town and then to continue up the valley some five miles past +Licq, until you come to the fork of the river. It is an unmistakable +point, because a very definite rocky ridge comes down +and separates the two sources of the river Saison, which is +the river of the Soule. The branch to the right (as you go +southward) leads up the valley to Larrau, of which I have just +spoken, and the high road follows it; the one to the left (which +is the main stream and is called the Chaitza) has no main +road along it, but a good mule track, very clear and plain, and +leading at last to the village of Ste Engrace, which lies at the +extreme end of the valley and gives the whole district its +name.</p> + +<p>Ste Engrace was a saint of the persecution of Diocletian. +She was martyred in Saragossa, and the name of the village +is one of the many examples of the way in which the southern +influence overlaps these hills. I have said that the Spanish +sandal is used to the very foot of the French Pyrenees, and so +is the wine-skin which is common to all Spain, and so is the +Spanish mule. Here you may see the Spanish saints as well +reaching beyond the summits.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span></p> + +<p>From where you leave the main road and go up the Chaitza +valley to Ste Engrace is a distance of 8 or 9 miles, and in this +valley, in its upper waters, is to be found one of the wonders +of the Pyrenees, and also one of the main passages into Spain.</p> + +<p>The wonder is the gorge of the Cacouette; the passage is +the twin passage of the Port d’Ourdayte and the Port Ste +Engrace, and near them to the west are two easier ports.</p> + +<p>The Cacouette is a cut through the limestone such as you +might make with a knife into clay or cheese, with immense +steep precipices on either side, and apart from the track above +the cliffs there is some sort of tourist’s way along the cavernous +ravine for those who admire such things. Of the two ports, +the one path goes up the western side of that cleft in the limestone +(which drops 1500 feet into the earth), and the other goes +up the eastern side. To take the road up the western side, +you leave the Ste Engrace road 3 miles after leaving the great +highway, by a lane which goes off to the right and drops down +into the valley; it is quite plain, and is the only road so leaving +the main track, so that it cannot be mistaken. It climbs +the opposing hill, and if you follow it through all its windings +it will take you to the Port Belhay, or to the Port Bambilette, +both under a mountain called Otxogorrigagne, and both easy. +But if you continue just above the limestone precipice, you +will come into a very striking circus of rock just under the +watershed, up which your path perilously climbs to the summit +and the frontier; this is the Port d’Ourdayte.</p> + +<p>The Port Ste Engrace, though not half a mile distant from +it, is reached in quite a different manner, and the separation +between the two is due to this limestone gorge, which cuts +off one path from the other.</p> + +<p>If you are going to try to cross by Ste Engrace, sleep at +the village before starting. There is a good comfortable inn +kept by people of the same name as those who keep the inn +at Elizondo, Jarégui. It is so steep and difficult a bit that if +you were to attempt to do it in one day, without sleeping at +Ste Engrace, you would hardly succeed unless you already +knew the mountain well, and mist, which is the fatal difficulty +of these western Pyrenees, will more commonly catch you in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span> +the early afternoon than at any other time in the day, so that +you had better make your ascent before noon. When you +have slept at Ste Engrace you will find the path the next morning +winding round through the woods, at the base of the hill +opposite the village. One must ask the way to the start of +this path, and it is not always clear after the first two miles; +one has now and then to cast about for it a little, but at last +it emerges upon a high grassy slope, which runs all the way to +the crest of the hill and the frontier. The path does not follow +the straight ascent of the hill, it curves nearer and nearer to a +precipice which is the same as that climbed by the neighbouring +paths of the Port d’Ourdayte; for ten dangerous yards it +runs on a tiny platform right along the gulf and makes over the +crest into the further Spanish Basque valley, whose capital +is Isaba.</p> + +<p>Of this valley I can say nothing, for I have not succeeded +in crossing the Ste Engrace, though I have twice tried, but I +am told that Isaba is among the best of these little mountain +Basque villages or towns for entertainment and for cleanliness, +and all Basque villages and towns are cleanly. There is a +good posada. From Isaba also a high road runs into the +higher valleys of Navarre and to Pamplona.</p> + +<p>Near this territory of the Soule, and partly included in it, +are two great districts where a man may spend many days at +his ease in camp there. The first is the great forest of the +Tigra, which stretches to the west of Tardets and is full of +rocks, rivers, and adventure. You may take it at its greatest +width, counting one or two open spaces, to be 8 or 9 miles, +and at its greatest length, from the Peak of the Vultures to St. +Just, to be much the same. Its high places, some of which +are bare peaks, some clothed with woods, range for the most +part round about 3000 feet, but the highest point—of which +I have never heard the name, and which is on the very south +of the forest, just passes 4000 feet. Tardets is always at hand +on the one hand, St. Jean Pied-de-Port rather further on the +other; from both one may re-provision oneself.</p> + +<p>Another and still larger district lies on the further side of +the valley to the north and east of Ste Engrace itself. It is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span> +the great mass of wood, mainly beech, which stretches all over +the hills between this last Basque valley and the Val d’Aspe, +next to the east, which is the frontier valley of Béarn. These +woods have no common name, they are intersected by clear +spaces, notably round the higher peaks of the forest, but they +make a district of their own stretching eastward and westward +from Lourdios to Licq, northward and southward from the +frontier nearly to Lanne, and thus measuring not much +less than 10 miles every way, in French territory alone.</p> + +<p>There is no forest in which it is easier to lose one’s way than +this great stretch of upland. This is especially true in the +Souscousse district, due east of Ste Engrace; there is here a +labyrinth of complicated valleys, and what seems on the map +so easy a passage from the Soule into the Val d’Aspe is in +practice nearly impossible to find. To camp in and to explore, +this forest is even better than the Tigra; for its summits are +higher, and its views more unexpected and remarkable. There +are points in it which are more than 6000 feet in height, +and the great Pic d’Anie, the first of the really high mountains +of the chain, stands high above them, just beyond the southern +limit of the trees.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="map02" style="max-width: 75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map02.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE BASQUE VALLEYS</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span></p> + +<h3 id="VI_II">II. <span class="smcap">The Four Valleys (Béarn and Aragon)</span></h3> + +<figure class="figright illowp75" id="illus22" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus22.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Four valleys in the Pyrenees count together in travel upon +foot. They are the Val d’Aspe and the Val d’Oussau on the +French side, and the valleys of the rivers Aragon and Gallego +on the Spanish side.</p> + +<p>These four form a unity for the reason that in one place +(which is just to the south of the watershed) they are, without +too much difficulty, approachable one from another.</p> + +<p>Many historical accidents have also served to unite these +four valleys. One pair of them made the platform for that +great Roman road to which allusion has so often been made in +this book, and which ran from the French plains over what is +now called the pass of the Somport, right down through Jaca +to Saragossa. The parallel pair of valleys just to the east, +the Val d’Ossau and the valley of the Gallego, on the Spanish +side, though no highway ran along them until quite recently, +had a similar historical unity which bound them both together, +and bound a pair of them to the two sister valleys upon the +west. For the eastern part of what later became the kingdom +of Aragon, the county of Sobrarbe, stretched from the valley +of the Gallego eastward, and was a natural line of defence +southward against the Mahommedans; while the Val d’Ossau<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> +to the north of it was reached by an easy pass and must have +formed—though we have no exact historical record of it—a +good road for the parallel advance of armies.</p> + +<p>It must never be forgotten that when an army is advancing +in great numbers it is of paramount importance for it that +the host should be able to concentrate before action. But +roads, especially roads over mountains, compel men to march +in long strings, so that the head of the column will have arrived +at a particular point hours before the tail of it; and what is +more, the deployment of the column, that is the getting of +it all into a front perpendicular to its line of advance, takes +time in proportion to the length which the column had before +it began to deploy. This accident it was, for instance, which +destroyed the French and their allies at Crécy, for though they +greatly outnumbered the English they had come up in columns +too long to deploy in time. Now it evidently follows from this +principle that armies on the march, even under the rudest +conditions, will attempt to follow parallel roads. To find two +roads parallel to one another and leading to the same field of +action is to halve the difficulties of transport and of deployment. +But it is very difficult (under primitive conditions) to +find two parallel roads which are near to one another, and +unless the lines by which the army advances are near to one +another the advantage of the alternative routes will disappear +in proportion to their distance one from the other. In +mountain regions it is especially difficult to find two passages +parallel to each other and yet in close neighbourhood. This +is precisely the advantage afforded by the trench of the +Gallego continued in the Val d’Ossau to the east, and in the +trench of the Aragon continued in the Val d’Aspe to the west. +Two hosts using the old mule paths could leave Sallent on the +Gallego and Canfranc on the Aragon at dawn of one day, and +both would meet at Oloron in the French plains before the +evening of the morrow; on the southward march a host could +assemble in the plains of Béarn, separate to use these two +easy passes, and meet at Jaca at the end of the second +day.</p> + +<p>It is fairly certain therefore—much more certain than a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> +thousand of the historical guesses that are put down as truths +in our textbooks—that the easy pass between the Gallego +Valley and the Val d’Ossau was twin throughout the Dark +Ages to the great Somport pass not 8 miles westward of it. +Abd-ur-Rahman must have used both and so must the +Christian knights when they came so often to the relief of +Aragon in the heavy and successful fighting against Islam +which marked the tenth and eleventh centuries.</p> + +<p>To appreciate how close these two parallel tracks were to +each other one has but to remember that the gap between the +Val d’Aspe and the next easy pass westward—right away at +Roncesvalles—there is a matter of 40 miles. Between the +Val d’Ossau and the next easy pass eastward there is a gap of +indeterminate length according to the definition of the term +“easy,” but there is at any rate no notch over which one could +take any armed force until one gets to the Bonaigo, quite 60 +miles away. All between is the mass of the highest and most +rugged ridges of the Pyrenees, over which certain paths have +always existed, indeed, and over which, in two places at least, +at Gavarnie and at Macadou, the French propose to drive +roads, but no gap in which was ever passable in the Dark and +Middle Ages for a great number of men.</p> + +<p>I have said that these two parallel trenches were not only +twin in history for the use of armies, but were also communicable +one from the other just south of the watershed. North +of it, indeed, the Val d’Aspe and the Val d’Ossau, though one +can be reached from the other, only communicate by very high +and rocky ridges, the easiest of which is the Col des Moines. +But on the south side there is one accidental easy passage. +You may go all the way from the Somport to Jaca and find +nothing but the most difficult mountains on your left, and all +the way from the Pourtalet (which is the pass at the top of +the Val d’Ossau corresponding to the Somport) down to Sandinies +and find nothing but difficult mountains on the right, +save just at the beginning of the descent where this accident +of which I speak occurs. Its feature is a lateral valley called +the Canal Roya which takes its name from the streak of intense +red scoring the side of its principal peak.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span></p> + +<p>This lateral valley points right away eastward from the +trench of the Aragon, it is nowhere precipitous along its +stream (a rare advantage in the Pyrenees) save in one spot +where a quite low precipice is easily outflanked along the +grassy slopes above it. And the end of that valley consists in +a sort of semi-circular ridge of grassy steep banks in three +places of which ridge, at least, a man or a beast can walk over +without difficulty or danger. These three places are the Port +de Peyréguet, the Port d’Anéou, and the col of the Canal Roya. +This last is the principal one, the easiest and the lowest. Each +is within half a mile of its neighbour, and on the further +side one comes down quite easily by large steep slopes of +meadow to the valley of the Gallego. The Port de Peyréguet +and the Port d’Anéou bring one down just on the north of the +flat dip of the pass, the col of the Canal Roya just on the +south of it; but whether one comes down just north or south +of the flat Pourtalet pass is an indifferent matter. The travelling +in all three cases is little more than a walk.</p> + +<p>These “gates” up the Canal Roya from the Val d’Aragon +into the parallel valley of the Gallego knit the whole four +valleys into one system, and to this day their customs and +their inhabitants have very much in common, and the two +valleys, which were the core and heart of Aragon and the +origins of its crusade southward against the Mahommedans, +count in history and in local geography with the two valleys +which were the heart and origin of Béarn up to the north.</p> + +<p>The Val d’Aspe, which is the most important of the four, +is that valley in the Pyrenees where the characteristics of +the range are most strongly marked. It might serve as the +type of all the others. You cannot see the opening of it +southward from Oloron without appreciating that you are +approaching something distinctive and singular in landscape. +It is so clean-cut and so obviously an invitation to the crossing +of the hills. The gorges which divide into separate flat steps +every Pyrenean valley, are nowhere more marked than here. +The village of Asasp which stands at the first of them is +singularly characteristic of such an entry; the gap through<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span> +which the old lake broke is so clear, the walls through which +the Gave runs are so perfect.</p> + +<p>Somewhat further on when yet another gorge has been +passed there opens out one of those circular and isolated +spaces of which Andorra is the historical example, and +which in greater or less perfection are characteristic of all +these hills.</p> + +<p>This plain, which still recalls in its contours the old lake +which created it, and of which it is the floor, is more regular +and more complete than any of the many <i>jasses</i> and “<i>plans</i>” +which distinguish the other vales. It is even more striking +than that of Andorra. It nourishes five villages which +might easily (had not the great international road run through +them for 2000 years) have federated to form an independent +commonwealth as the eight villages of Andorra federated +to form one. Indeed this circus, surrounded by almost +impassable hills which meet at either end in narrow Thermopylæ, +was very nearly independent at the close of the Middle +Ages, and when it appealed against the king for the preservation +of its customs, these were preserved by the authority +of the king’s court.</p> + +<p>Of the small towns or large villages which this little secluded +corner of the world contains, Bédous is that which will +seem the capital to the wayfarer, for it is the only one which +stands upon the main road; it is the terminus of a railway +which will soon be finished, and of which nearly all the +track is already made. Bédous, by this time, must also have +more population, as it certainly has more wealth than any +of the surrounding places. But Accous is the true capital +of the five, and it is pleasurable to hear with what reverence +the villagers of the farms around speak of Accous as though +it were an Andorra-viella or a Toulouse. All this wonderful +and silent plain is marked with long lines of poplars which +enhance by their straight lines the immensity of the heights +around them.</p> + +<p>If one will pass some days in this singular valley it forms +an excellent place from which to explore the high passes +into the Val d’Ossau, and the bases of the two great mountains<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> +which, to the east and to the west, neither visible from the +floor of the valley, are, as it were, its guardians: the Pic +d’Anie and the Pic du Midi d’Ossau. The man who does +not desire to cover much ground but who wants thoroughly +to know some very Pyrenean part of the Pyrenees will do +well to stop at the Hotel de la Poste at Bédous, and thence +climb at his leisure up on to the platforms from which spring +these isolated and dominant masses of rock.</p> + +<p>The Pic du Midi remains in one’s mind more perhaps than +any of the isolated mountains of Europe. It is quite savage +and alone, and you must fatigue yourself to reach it. There +is no common knowledge of it and yet it is as much itself as +is the Matterhorn. The Pic d’Anie, though it is less isolated, +stands even more alone and has this quality that it dominates +the whole of the seaward side of the Pyrenees for it is much +higher than anything westward of it. Also it is the boundary +beyond which the Basques and their language have not gone.</p> + +<p>Beyond this plain of Bédous, when you have passed the +southern “gate” of it, you come into a long, deep and +winding gorge which leads you at last to Urdos, and Urdos +is and has been since history began the outpost of the French +in these hills. It was the Roman outpost and the mediæval +one, and it was the outpost through the Revolutionary wars.</p> + +<p>Napoleon, who in everything recognized and imitated the +example of Rome, and who, for that matter, caused the +Empire to rise again from the dead, determined that a modern +road should go again where the old Roman road had gone. +He determined this in connexion with his Spanish wars, and +decreed in 1808 that a way for artillery should cross where +the legions had gone. But Europe, as we all know, would +not upon any matter accept in the rush of a few years the +constructive desire of Napoleon and of the Revolution. It +has taken more than three generations to do not half the vast +work they planned, and this road, which like almost every +good road over the Alps and the Pyrenees has Napoleon and +the Revolution for its origin, waited till past the middle of +the nineteenth century before it reached so much as the +summit of the port.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span></p> + +<p>Under Napoleon III, in the sixties if I remember right, +the thing was done and the road reached the summit of the +Somport, the lowest and the most practicable of the high +passes of the central mountains. But the Spaniards still +hung back, and it was not till the other year that the road +upon the Spanish side was completed. Now, however, one +may not only go all the way upon a high carriage road from +Oloron to Saragossa straight south across the hills, but one may +find the whole way marked with mile-stones as the Romans +would have marked it, and saved at every difficulty by +engineering of which the Romans themselves would have +been proud. Once over the summit there is no resting place +till one reaches Canfranc, 6 or 7 miles by the windings of the +road below one. After Canfranc the valley of the Aragon, +which one has been following, opens, and the plain of Jaca +lies before one bounded by its great ridge to the southward, +the Peña de Oroel.</p> + +<p>If one would not go all that length of high-road (from +Oloron to Jaca is over 50 miles) there are upon the Spanish +side two lateral diversions which a man may take. The +first is over the Col des Moines, the other into and over the +Canal Roya.</p> + +<p>The first can be seen right before one at the summit of +the pass; for when one stands upon that summit one has, +running eastward from the road, a great open valley at the +head of which is clearly distinguishable a bare rocky ridge +with a low saddle which is the Col des Moines. It is perfectly +easy upon either side, and upon the further side it shows +one the splendid and unexpected vision of the Pic du Midi +standing up alone beyond the little tarns at its feet: a +double pyramid of steep rock upon which the snow can +hardly lie in tiny patches and whose main precipices are +dark, to the north, away from the sun.</p> + +<p>The next lateral valley southward of the Col des Moines +is that of the Canal Roya, but one can only enter it after +going down the main road for quite a thousand feet. There +a bridge will be seen spanning the Aragon and a little doubtful +path leading beyond eastward up the lateral valley. It is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> +two hours up that valley to its head by a path going first +on the right bank of the stream then crossing over to the +left one. One thus reaches by a continuous ascent the cirque +or amphitheatre which bounds it at the eastern extremity +of the valley. Here there is a difficulty in finding the easiest +and lowest col. The map is doubtful and the details upon +the map are not sufficiently numerous. The Canal Roya is +well worth camping in and returning by to the main Spanish +road if one is inclined (and if one is, one would do well to +camp near the wood upon the left bank of the stream not +quite half-way up the vale for there is no timber further on). +But if one does not camp and prefers to get over the col +into the valley of the Gallego the rule is to note a sharp +peak which stands exactly at the apex of the valley—it is +the lowest of the peaks around but very distinct, forming an +isolated steeple due east of the last springs of the stream. +The way lies to the left or north of this peak and just under +its shoulder up a loose mass of fallen rocks on which an eye +practised in these things can discover from time to time a +trace not of a true path but at least of infrequent travel. +Upon the far side easy slopes of grass take one down in about +an hour to the Sallent road.</p> + +<p>Note that these two cols and the stretch from road to +road and from inn to inn can only with some peril be undertaken +in one day from Urdos. In fine weather and without +accident the thing is simple enough, but when you are baulked +for an hour or two by the trail, or if you start a little late, +or if you are detained by mist you may very easily not manage +the passage from one of the great roads to the other, near as +they look upon the map.</p> + +<p>With everything going well, carrying little weight and +fresh, it is quite three hours (and more like three and a half) +from Urdos to the bridge over the Aragon. It will be another +two up the Canal Roya and two more over its col and down +the other side to the high road, and even from that point +on the high road, if you follow the road only, there are two +more hours before you reach Sallent. It is a very heavy +day of quite 30 miles with two cols, one of 5000 feet, the other<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span> +of 6500 feet, to be taken on the way, and it is foolish to +undertake either the Col des Moines or the Canal Roya from +Urdos without allowing for the chance of one night at least +upon the mountain.</p> + +<p>The second pair of valleys, that of the Gallego on the +Spanish side, and the Gave d’Ossau on the French side, are +linked together by two very easy passes, and one difficult +one of which I shall speak in a moment.</p> + +<p>The old port, now called “Port Vieux de Sallent,” or the +“Puerta Vieja,” is easy enough, though it went over a +higher part of the mountain than the new pass just next +door to it. I say it is <i>higher</i> than the pass now used, and +this contrast is not infrequently found in the Pyrenees, some +feature or other in the topography of the ridge making it +more convenient for a native to cross by a slightly higher +saddle than by some lower one close by. For instance, the +Somport itself is somewhat higher than a quite unknown +gap four miles to the west of it, but this lower gap was never +used because it led into a Spanish valley of a difficult and +most isolated kind.</p> + +<p>In the case of the two passes from the Val d’Ossau into +Spain, the obstacle which prevented the lower pass being +used until quite lately, was a great mass of rock overhanging +the sources of the Gave d’Ossau, in the highest part of the +valley. When the new highway was made, this rock was +blasted and cut so as to take the road round it, and thus the +low pass beyond, called Pourtalet, was utilized. It is below +6000 feet and exactly 1000 feet lower than the old Port de +Sallent. But even nowadays, if you are on foot you will +do well to cross by the old port, high as it is, for it saves time.</p> + +<p>While I am on the subject I must warn the reader that +the 1/100,000 map does not accurately convey the shape of the +last two miles of the road upon the French side, and the line +of road mere guesswork upon the Spanish, though the shape +of the mountains is accurately given.</p> + +<p>This pair of valleys is remarkable for another feature upon +the French and upon the Spanish slopes: their wildness. +Let me speak first of the French. The French valley, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span> +Val d’Ossau, is one of the wildest and most deserted in the +Pyrenees, and also it is the one most densely clothed with +forests. The reason of this is that there is less flat ground +at the foot of it than in any other. Nowhere does it expand +into even a narrow circus, and about Laruns, where it debouches +upon the lowlands, and the summit of the pass into +Spain, a distance of perhaps 17 miles, there is but one large +village, close to the bottom of the valley, and that owes its +existence to Thermal Springs; it is called Eaux Chaudes—a +dismal place, squeezed in between the torrent and the +cliff, dirty, uncomfortable, and sad. Higher up, however, +a tiny hamlet, the humblest and most remote in the world, +one would think, has of recent years taken on some little +importance through travel; this is the hamlet of Gabas, +which may be said to consist in three inns, a ruinous chapel, +most pathetic, and a customs station. Of the excellent inn +at Gabas, I will speak elsewhere.</p> + +<p>This valley of the Ossau is the base for two districts, both +of which are very Pyrenean, and on either of which a man +may spend a day or a month of lonely pleasure. One is the +steep and very fine valley of the Sousquéou, the other is the +short and extremely steep torrent bed which leads up to the +foot of the Pic du Midi.</p> + +<p>This mountain dominates all this section of the Pyrenees. +The approach to it by the Col des Moines I have already +mentioned; this ascent by the short valley from Gabas, +through the woods, is better, because you come right up on +to the mountain suddenly from the depth of a vast forest, +and you feel its isolation.</p> + +<p>I know of no hill which seems more to deserve a name +or to possess a personality. Round its base there is matter +for camping for days or for weeks, good water, lakes to fish +in, shelter, both of rocks and of trees, human succour not +too far off (Gabas is not three miles as the crow flies from +the summit of the mountain), and a complete independence.</p> + +<p>The Sousquéou is a less human excursion, though it has a +very fine lake at the head of it. The communication with men +is steeper and more difficult than from the district surrounding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> +the Pic du Midi, and, as I know from experience, it is not +difficult to lose one’s way. Moreover, the exits from the +upper end of this valley are not easy, and it is bounded +on either side by the most savage cliffs in the whole chain. +Should it be necessary to escape from this ravine by any +path but that which leads down on to the high road near +Gabas, you have no choice but the high and steep Col d’Arrius, +which brings you down into the upper valley of the Gave +d’Ossau, or on to the very high and most unpleasant Col de +Sobe, which gets you into one of the most difficult parts of +the Spanish side near the Peña Forata and so down to the +Gallego. Its very remoteness, however, and its partial +changes, may attract one kind of walker to the Sousquéou, +but if he attempts it, let him go with at least three days’ +provisions. There are huts in the lower part of the valley, +but there is no very good camping ground near the lake I +believe, save on the side of the wood to the north. It is +a lonely place, not without horrors, and is perhaps haunted; +the shape of the hills around is very terrible.</p> + +<p>The Spanish side of all this is more simply described, the +new high road runs down 8 or 9 miles to Sallent, which +can be turned into 5 or 6 miles by taking the old mule track +that cuts off the windings of the graded road. The river +Gallego runs below and increases as it goes. To the right +or westward of the valley there is nothing in particular to +be done, there is but one place where you can conveniently +cross over into the valley of the Aragon, which is the Canal +Roya I have already described; south of that crossing the +flank of the mountain lies bare and open affording neither +camping ground nor interest. On the left are the curious +serrated precipices of the Peña Forata, where climbing makes +but a day’s amusement, but where also there is no opportunity +for camping, and once Sallent is reached, though the “valley +of Limpid Water” which runs north of it is fine enough, +there is little to be done but to go on to Panticosa. There +is a path over the very high ridge of the Pic d’Enfer, and +there is a main carriage road which goes round the flanks +of that mountain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span></p> + +<p>All this part the valley of the Gallego is bounded by +some of the highest and most abrupt peaks in the chain, +and (as I shall presently describe) another district, meriting +another type of description and travel, lies to the eastward, +and constitutes those new fortresses of the hills, the roots of +old Sobrarbe, where Christendom first began to hold out +against Islam, and whence the men of Aragon could securely +push southward when the advance to the Reconquest began.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp47" id="map03" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map03.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE FOUR VALLEYS</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span></p> + +<h3 id="VI_III">III. <span class="smcap">Sobrarbe</span></h3> + +<figure class="figright illowp32" id="illus23" style="max-width: 9.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus23.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>When one says Sobrarbe one means all +that eastern and larger part of the +original valleys of Aragon which lie between +(and do not include) the valley of the +Gallego and the valley of the Noguera Ribagorzana, +that is, the valley of Broto (which +is that of the river Ara), the valley of the +river Cinca and the valley of the river Esera; +for, with central ramifications, these three make up +Sobrarbe.</p> + +<p>That part of it of which I shall here speak, the +part right up against the frontier ridge, is included +between the big lump of mountains which surrounds +Panticosa (of which the Vignemale is the most +conspicuous) and the other big lump of peaks which is called +the Maladetta group.</p> + +<p>It has three towns corresponding to its three valleys, +Torla in the Broto upon the Ara, Bielsa upon the Cinca, +Venasque upon the Esera.</p> + +<p>The Cinca, however, receives, right up at its sources, an +affluent longer and more important than itself, called the +Cinqueta, and on this stream is a group of villages, none of +them important enough to be called a town, but standing +so close together as to make a considerable centre of habitation.</p> + +<p>But for these towns, the group of villages I have mentioned +and one or two tiny hamlets, these Spanish valleys are wholly +deserted, and they form by far the most rugged and difficult +district of all the Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>They also hold the highest peaks of the mountains; the +culminating Nethou Peak of the Maladetta group, just upon +the eastern edge of the district (11,168 feet); the Posets +(11,047), the Mont Perdu (10,994), the Pic d’Enfer (10,109),<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span> +the Vignemale (10,820) all stand here. Most of the high +peaks are in Spain, but it is another feature of the district +that the frontier ridge is higher here than in any other part, +and is also more continuous. The summit of the Vignemale +forms part of it, and the notches by which it may be traversed +in these 40 to 50 miles lie but very little below the surrounding +peaks. Only 3 of the passes miss the 8000 foot line. The +Port du Venasque, at the extreme eastern end opposite the +Maladetta, is 7930 feet in height; the Port de Gavarnie at +the extreme western end is 7481. These two form the chief +thoroughfares over this high and difficult bit; that of +Gavarnie, upon the French side, is being prepared for wheeled +traffic. The third, the Port de Pinède, also misses the +8000 foot line, but only misses it by 25 feet. All the other +passes are but slight depressions in this barrier of cliff. The +Tillon or rather the passage to the side of it, is little under +10,000 feet, the Pla Laube is over 8000, so is the Marcadou, +so is the better known and more used pass of Bielsa, while +the Port d’Oo is 9846, and the Portillon d’O is 9987.</p> + +<p>The impression conveyed by this long line, the only line +in the Pyrenees where even small glaciers may be found, is +of an impassable sheer height, just notched enough at one +point on the west to admit a painful scramble into the valley +of the Gave d’Pau and on the east to admit one into the +Valley of the Lys (into the basin of the Adour, that is) at +one end, and into the basin of Garonne at the other.</p> + +<p>A journey through Sobrarbe can be undertaken either +from Sallent and Panticosa or from Gavarnie, and in either +case your exploration of high Sobrarbe begins at the hamlet +of Bujaruelo, which the French call Boucharo.</p> + +<p>How to reach Bujaruelo from Gavarnie I shall describe +later: for the moment I propose a start on the Spanish +side.</p> + +<p>If you start from the Spanish side at Panticosa, a plain +path takes you up the valley of the Caldares until you are +right under the frontier ridge. There the path bifurcates; +you take the right-hand branch along the chain of lakes +that lies just under the wall of the main ridge, and you<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span> +climb slowly up to the path at the head of it. The whole +climb from Panticosa to this pass is 3040 feet, and it will +take you from early morning until noon. Or, if you will +start before a summer dawn, at any rate until the heat of +the morning. For though it looks so short a distance on the +map, and though there is no difficult passage, it is very hard +going. The reason I mention this matter of hours is that +when you have got down the other side into the valley of +the Ara, you are still 8 miles by the mule path from Bujaruelo, +and though it is all downhill, you will hardly do these 8 miles +under two hours and a half; however early you start, therefore, +the back of the day is likely to be broken by the time +you come to Bujaruelo. Once there a new difficulty arises; +for Bujaruelo is not a pleasant place to sleep in. I have +not myself slept there, but the verdict is universal. Though +you are coming from a Spanish town the Customs may +bother you at this hamlet because they cannot tell but that +you have come over some one of the high passages from +France, such as the Pla Laube up the valley. At any rate, +unless you are going to camp out you must push on to <i>Torla</i>, +5 miles on down the valley, and you will pass through a +great gorge on your way. Now at Torla the hospitality, +though large and vague, is good enough.</p> + +<p>If, however, you are taking the Upper Sobrarbe with the +idea of camping, you must not go on to Torla, but you must +do as follows. Just at the far end of the gorge of which +I have spoken the path crosses the river Ara by a bridge +called the Bridge of the Men of Navarre. There you will +see a path leaving yours to the left, and zigzagging up the +mountain side eastward. This is the one you must take. +It climbs 600 feet, gets you round the cascade which here +pours into the Ara from a lateral valley, and finally puts +you on to the level floor of that lateral valley: it is called +the valley of Arazas. Here there is excellent camping ground +everywhere, and it will be high time to look for a camp by +the time you are well upon the floor of that gorge; you +may have to go up some little way to find wood, but much +of this valley in its higher part is clothed with forests. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span> +next day you must, as best you can, force your way to Bielsa, +and unless the weather is fine you may very possibly have to +sleep another night upon the mountain.</p> + +<p>The trouble of this difficult bit is the great height of the +lateral ridges. At the end of this fine valley of Arazas, which +curves slowly up northward as you go, is the huge mass of +the Mont Perdu, and you cannot get out of the valley without +going over the shoulder of it. In order to do this proceed +as follows, and go along the stream until the path crosses +over from the northern to the southern bank, at a place +where the cliffs on either side come very close to the water. +The path goes along under and partially upon the face of +these cliffs in a perilous sort of way, until it comes to a lateral +streamlet pouring right down the side of the terminal mountain. +This lateral streamlet you must be sure to recognize, +for upon your recognizing it depends the success of your +adventure; and you may know it thus: The place where +your path strikes it, is exactly 1000 yards from the place +where you crossed the main stream. When you come to +this lateral streamlet you will see, or should see, a transverse +path running very nearly due east and west; and up that +in an eastward direction, immediately above you, a distance +of 800 yards, upon the shoulder of the great mountain is +the depression for which the path makes. It is called the +<i>Col de Gaulis</i>.</p> + +<p>For all of this by the way you will do well to consult +Schrader the whole time. What the going is like on the +further side of this col I cannot tell for I have never come +down it, but I know that your way descends right by a +very short and steep gully in which a torrent makes straight +for the valley beneath, and I know that when you have +made that valley your troubles are over.</p> + +<p>You fall through a descent of just under 2000 feet in a +distance of less than a mile as the crow flies. You must +therefore be prepared for a very steep bit of work. Once +in the valley, however, everything is straightforward. On +reaching the main stream of this new valley (which runs +north and south) you turn to the right, southward, and follow<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span> +its right bank between it and the cliff; you cross a rivulet +flowing from a deep lateral ravine about a mile further on, +and less than half a mile further again see a new path leaving +your path and going to your left, crossing over the valley +and its stream, and making up a gulley which comes down +facing you from the opposing heights. Take this new path +up this gulley (the path runs everywhere to the <i>south</i> of the +water), and you will find yourself after a climb of somewhat +over a 1000 feet on the Col d’Escuain. Thence the way is +perfectly clear, running due south-east for 5 miles, just +above the edge of the cliffs of the gorge of Escuain, until you +reach the village of Escuain perched above that ravine.</p> + +<p>Whatever efforts you may have made, and however early +you may have started, you will hardly have reached human +beings again at this place until, as at Bujaruelo the day before, +the back of the day is broken. Nevertheless, unless you are +to camp out again upon the mountain, you must try and +push on to Bielsa. It is more than 10 miles, however much +you cut off the windings of the path, which takes you past +the chapel of San Pablo, leaving the village of Rivella on +the left up the mountain side, then across a steep cliff down +to the profound gorge of the Cinca; from there an unmistakable +road goes through Salinas de Sin and follows straight on up +the valley to Bielsa just 4 miles further on.</p> + +<p>If you can do that in one day you will have done well.</p> + +<p>There is another and shorter crossing, which, though it is +invariably used by the mountaineers, I have not described +because most people unused to the Pyrenees would shirk it. +When you have come down from the Col de Gaulis into the +valley below, if instead of going southward to the right you +go northward to the left, crossing the stream, and climbing +up on the further side of it, the path takes you at last to a +very high col, called in Spanish the Col of Anisclo, but in +French, the Col of Anicle. This col is not far short of 9000 +feet high, and it is particularly painful to have to attempt +it just after the difficult business of the Col de Gaulis. It +means two ports within a few hours of each other, the second<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span> +one 3000 feet above the valley, and what that is in the way +of fatigue, a man must go through in order to know. Moreover, +the descent on the far side from the Col of Anisclo is +exceedingly steep.</p> + +<p>However, if you do this short cut you have the advantage +of finding yourself at once in the main valley of the Cinca +and, when once you are on the banks of that river, you are +not more than 8 miles or so from Bielsa by a good path +leading all the way down the stream on the left bank. You +save in this way quite 6 miles, and reduce your whole journey +from the mouth of the valley of Arazas to Bielsa to a little +less than 20 miles.</p> + +<p>The distance you have to go before you come to human +beings is much the same by either track. Escuain is just +about as far from the Col de Gaulis, as is Las Cortez, the +first hamlet in the Cinca valley. Again, by this shorter way +you miss the gorge of the Escuain, but you see the huge cliffs +of Pinède, which are perhaps the finest wall in the Pyrenees +with their summits along the crest of 9000 feet, 5000 feet +or more above the stream at their feet: it is the edge of +this ridge of cliff which must be crossed at the Col of Anisclo. +Either way therefore is as fine and either as deserted as +the other. But the second much shorter and far more +painful.</p> + +<p>Before I leave this passage between the first and second +of the Sobrarbe valleys—between the valley of Broto, that +is (as they call the valley of the river Ara) and the valley of +the Cinca—a few notes on the road should be added.</p> + +<p>First, I have said that Torla, Bujaruelo (Boucharo) may be +made from Gavarnie as well as from Panticosa. This is so; +and if you undertake the exploration of Sobrarbe from +Gavarnie, it is a much easier business to get to Bujaruelo +from the French hamlet, than it is to get to it from Panticosa.</p> + +<p>The excellent road from Gavarnie to the top of the port +is a very small matter, and from there down into Bujaruelo +is an easy descent of three miles. If you start from Gavarnie, +therefore, in the early morning, you can with an effort and +in good weather go the whole length of the Val d’Arazas,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span> +over the Col de Gaulis, and the Col of Anisclo and sleep in +Bielsa that same night, or you can, taking it more easily, +make a camp at the head of the Val d’Arazas, or you can +break your journey in the valley between the two Cols of +Gaulis and Anisclo, camping there for the night; I am told +the camping ground in this gorge is not very good, otherwise +that would be the ideal place to break your journey.</p> + +<p>You may next remark that in the lower part of the Val +d’Arazas, right on the path, there is a good inn, which will +save your camping out in the valley at all, if you are not so +inclined; but the inn is so far down the valley that it does +not save you very much in the next day’s walk. Further, +you should note that all this group of valleys, the Arazas, +the Pinède (which is that through which the Cinca flows), +the Velos, which is the stream at the foot of the Col de Gaulis, +the Escuain, etc., are, unlike most others in the Pyrenees, +true <i>ravines</i>. They correspond to what Western Americans +mean when they use the Spanish word Cañons, that is <i>clefts</i> +sunk deep into the stuff of the world and bounded by precipices +upon either side. These not only make the whole +district a striking exception in the Pyrenean range, but also +make the finding of and keeping to a path necessary as it is +throughout the Pyrenees, more necessary here than anywhere +else. If, for instance, you lose the path at the head of the +Arazas, where it goes up the cliffs, you will never make the +Col de Gaulis though it is less than a mile away, and if you +miss the path up to the Col of Anisclo you can never get +down into the Pinède at all.</p> + +<p>It is worth remembering that from the foot of the Col de +Gaulis a path of sorts leads up the flank of the mountain to +the Spanish side of the Brèche de Roland. I have never +followed it, but I believe it to be an easier approach than +that over the glacier upon the French side.</p> + +<p>Once you are at Bielsa on the Cinca, you are in the centre +and, as it were, in the geographical capital of the high Sobrarbe +and it is your next business to go on eastward into the last +valley, that of the Esera, the central town of which is +Venasque. Between the upper part of these two valleys<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span> +and right between these two towns lies the great mass of +the Posets, a huge mountain which lifts up in a confused +way like an Atlantic wave and is within a very few feet of +being the highest in the Pyrenees. It is a mountain which, +though it is not remarkable for precipices or for any striking +sky line, should by no means be crossed (though it can easily +be ascended), but must be turned.</p> + +<p>The straight line from Bielsa to Venasque lies slightly +south of east and is but 15 miles in length, but it runs right +over the mass of the Posets and crosses that jumble of hills +only a couple of miles south of the culminating peak. Venasque +must therefore be reached by a divergence one way or the +other, and one approaches it from Bielsa by going either +to the north or to the south of the mountain group of the +Posets. The northern way is a trifle shorter but much more +difficult and much more lonely. On the other hand, it takes +one into the very heart of the highest Pyrenees, right under +the least known and the most absolute part of the barrier +which they make between France and Spain. I will therefore +describe this northern way first, as I think most travellers +who desire an acquaintance with the hills will take it.</p> + +<p>From Bielsa a path going eastward crosses the Barrosa +(at the confluence of which with the Cinca Bielsa is built), +runs round the flank of the mountain and goes right up to +the Col of the Cross “De La Cruz,” 4000 feet above the town. +You may know this pass, if you have a compass, by observing +that it is due east of Bielsa. To be accurate, the dead line +east and west from the top of the Col exactly strikes the +northernmost houses of the town.</p> + +<p>The eastern descent of the Col is quite easy and once down +upon the banks of the Cinqueta, you see, half a mile to the +north of you, the hospital or refuge of Gistain. From that +point you follow up the valley north-eastward, on the right +or northern bank of the stream under a steep hill-side for a +couple of miles until you come to a fairly open place where +the two upper forks of the Cinqueta meet. You cross the +northern fork and go on eastward and northward up the +eastern one, still keeping at the foot of the northern hill-side.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="map04" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map04.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE PASSAGE OVER THE COL DE LA CRUZ AND THE COL DE GISTAIN</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span></p> + +<p>What follows is not very easy to describe and should be +carefully noted. What you have to pick out is a particular +col on the opposite slope beyond the stream. This col is +three miles or so from the fork, five from the Refuge, and is +called “the Col de Gistain.” As you go up this valley the +opposing side is formed of the buttresses of the Posets. +From that mountain four torrents descend to join the east +fork of the Cinqueta, between the place where you crossed +and the col you are seeking. The first torrent falls into the +valley which you are climbing half a mile or so after you +have crossed the north fork and begun the new valley; a +second comes in about a thousand yards further on, a third +about a mile further yet, and you may see each of them +coming into the stream at your feet from down the opposing +side, which consists, as I have said, in the buttresses of the +Posets.</p> + +<p>Another way of recognizing these three torrents (and it +is essential to recognize them) is to note that between the +first and the second the slope is not violent, while between +the second and the third it is a rocky ridge.</p> + +<p>When you have seen the third come in, you must watch +<i>exactly a mile further on</i> for the entry of the fourth. This +fourth one is your mark by which to find the col. Just +after passing in front of the mouth of this fourth torrent, +your path, such as it is, will cross the Cinqueta, turn sharply +eastward, and begin to climb up the right or northern bank +of this fourth torrent.</p> + +<p>The ascent is not steep, and in 1500 yards you are on +the <i>Col de Gistain</i> between 8200 and 8300 feet above the sea, +and almost exactly 3000 feet above the spot where you left +the north fork of the Cinqueta to follow the eastern valley. +Another way of making certain that you do not miss the +all-important turning is to count the torrents coming in +upon <i>your</i> side, the <i>north</i> side, of the valley; that is the +torrents, each coming in from its own ravine, which your +path crosses.</p> + +<p>They also are three in number and fairly equidistant one +from another, the first about a mile after you have crossed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> +the north fork, the next a mile further on, and the next just +under a mile beyond that. It is after you have crossed the +third and have proceeded another 500 or 600 yards that +your path to the Col de Gistain will go off opposite to the +right, crossing the stream at your feet, and following the +torrent that falls from that opposing side.</p> + +<p>Yet another way of making sure is to watch (if the weather +is fine) for the col itself, an unmistakable notch with a ridge +of sharp rock just to the north of it and a less abrupt arète +going south of it up to the summit of the Posets.</p> + +<p>I have written at this length of the passage not only from +the difficulty of discovering, but also from the danger that +will attend any delay in finding it. If you go on past the +turning where the path to the col goes off eastward you may +get over the wrong port on to the French side, miles from +anywhere, or you may take the rocks of the Anes Cruces and +find yourself on a ridge beyond which there is no going +down either way; while if you turn off too early you may +climb right up on to the glacier of the Posets, and lose a day +and be compelled to pass a night in that frost.</p> + +<p>Once you have got to the top of the Col de Gistain, however, +you are free. All the running water below you leads you +down into the valley of Venasque; there is no steepness and +no difficulty. The rudimentary path follows the stream, +there is a little cabane on the upper waters of it, soon the +floor of the valley widens out a trifle, and four miles on, not +quite 3000 feet below the pass, is another cabane; that of +the Turmo. The path from this point becomes more definite; +it crosses the stream 2 miles down in order to avoid rocks upon +the southern side, recrosses it again a mile later to negotiate +a steep and narrow gorge, it comes over once again to the +northern side by a bridge a few hundred yards further on, +and almost immediately reaches the valley of the Esera at +a point 9 miles or so from the summit of the pass. Here an +ancient and remarkable bridge, the Bridge of Cuberre, crosses +the Esera, and enables you to gain the wide mule track to +Venasque, which town lies rather more than 2 miles down +the road.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span></p> + +<p>It will be seen that the whole difficulty of this passage +lies in making certain of the Col de Gistain.</p> + +<p>If I have exaggerated that difficulty I have fallen into an +error on the right side, for to miss the col is to fail altogether +and possibly to be in danger. If those who have approached +the Col de Gistain from the east, or who have only seen the +place in clear weather, imagine it to be discoverable under +all circumstances, they are in error; indeed, if the weather +is bad, it is just as well not to attempt the passage at all.</p> + +<p>This northern way from Bielsa to Venasque is, as I have +said, the most difficult. The southern way is as follows.</p> + +<p>You go down the gorge to the Cinca by the road to Salinas +de Sin, there the road branches, the main part goes on down +the Cinca, the side road goes sharply off to the left up the +first affluent of the Cinca, a lateral valley which points south-east, +and is that of the Cinqueta. This road crosses the +Cinca, follows the eastern or right bank of the lateral stream +for some two-thirds of a mile, then crosses over and in about +3 miles from the crossing reaches the hamlet of Sarabillo. +Thence it proceeds, still upon the same side of the stream +and facing a considerable cliff upon the further bank, to the +village of El Plan, which lies somewhat less than 5 miles up +from Sarabillo, and is reached by crossing the stream again +just before one comes to the village.</p> + +<p>At El Plan one may repose. One will have walked by +the mule paths more than 12 miles, and there is a long way +before one.</p> + +<p>The main path goes on to the next village, that of St. Juan, +and so up the Cinqueta to the hospital of Gistain, where it +joins the northern route we have just been tracing. The +southern way, which I am now describing, is by a path +leaving El Plan at the end of the village and going down to +the river (which here runs through a broad valley floor), +across the river by a bridge, and then up the torrent valley +of the Sentina, a little south of east. The path runs on the +right or northern bank of this torrent, and any path or +tracks to be seen crossing the water are not to your purpose. +Keep always to the same side of the stream until you come<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span> +to the col, which is more than 4 but less than 5 miles from +El Plan and is called the Col de Sahun. From this col the +path continues a little less clearly marked, but quite easy, +down the sharp valley on the further side to the village of +Sahun, which lies exactly due east of the col and just over +3 miles from it. The whole passage, therefore, from El Plan +to Sahun, is a matter of not more than two hours, and from +Sahun to Venasque there is an excellent mule road following +up the open valley of the Esera; a distance of just 4 miles.</p> + +<p>By this southern approach the whole distance is but a +plain walk of under 20 miles with only one low and easy col +to climb, but of course it tells you far less of what the Pyrenees +can be than does the northern passage.</p> + +<p class="tb">With the valley of the Esera and the town of Venasque +you have come to the end of Sobrarbe, and of all that remote +and ill-known district which is the most savage and the +most alluring in these great hills. Indeed, you are no longer +properly in the Sobrarbe, but rather in the subdivision of +Ribagorza, which had a Count to itself in the Middle Ages, +and was the march between Aragon and Catalonia. From +Venasque you can get back again at your ease next day, by +one of the best known mule tracks in the Pyrenees, to the +French valleys and to wealth again at Luchon.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="map05" style="max-width: 68.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map05.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE SOBRARBE</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span></p> + +<h3 id="VI_IV">IV. <span class="smcap">The Tarbes Valleys and Luchon</span></h3> + +<figure class="figright illowp93" id="illus24" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus24.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Three valleys, two profound, one shallow, depend upon +and radiate from the town of Tarbes which stands in the plain +below the mountains. Their rail system and their road +system converge upon Tarbes, and it is from Tarbes that +they should be explored.</p> + +<p>The two long valleys are the valley of Lourdes, down which +flows the Gave de Pau and the long valley of Arreau or Val +d’Aure (it is the longest enclosed valley of the Pyrenees). The +short valley is the valley of Bigorre, wherein the Adour arises.</p> + +<p>For a man on foot these three valleys are of interest chiefly +in their highest portions alone. The energy of French +civilization has penetrated them everywhere with light +railways and with roads, and has united them all three by a +great lateral road running from Arreau to Luz over what +used to be the difficult and ill-known port of Tourmalet; +while it has thus done a great deal for those who only use +the road, it has hurt the district from the point of view +which I am taking in this division of my book.</p> + +<p>There is indeed one great hill which no development of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span> +roads can effect, and which is the chief interest of all these +three valleys for the man on foot. It rises in the very centre +of the district and is called the Pic du Midi de Begorre. This +peak stands thrust forward from the main range, a matter +of more than 10 miles from the watershed, and isolated upon +every side save where the isthmus of the Tourmalet binds +it to the general system not much more than 2000 feet below +its summit. But the Pic du Midi de Begorre, fine as it is, +does not afford so many opportunities to the man exploring +the Pyrenees on foot as do other peaks. It is a bare mountain, +all precipice upon the northern side, and steep every +way. There is no camping ground save at the foot of it in +the little wood above Abay. Moreover, there is a road right +up it, an observatory upon the top, and arrangements for +sleeping and for eating and drinking as well. No other of +the great mountains of Europe have been put more thoroughly +in harness. The chief use of it (for the purposes of this +book) is that from its summit you will get a better general +view of the eastern Pyrenees than from any other point +reached with equal ease, and that you can see in one view, +as you look southward, the Maladetta on your extreme left, +the Pic du Midi d’Ossau on your extreme right, each about +30 to 40 miles away. It is also a point from which the sharp +demarcation between the mountain and the plain, which +characterizes the northern slope of the Pyrenees, is very +clear; for this peak, jutting out as it does from the mass +of the hills, dominates all the flat country beneath.</p> + +<p>The roads of these three valleys are somewhat overrun—even +in their upper portions. That from the end of the +light railway from Luz to Gavarnie, is, in the summer, the +only really spoilt piece of the Pyrenees; that from Arreau +up to Vielle Aure in the furthest valley is less frequented, +but there is no particular reason for stopping in it or for +camping in it, especially when one considers the waste spaces +on either side, where one may be wholly remote and at peace. +There is, however, in one branch of this valley, that is in +the gulley which runs due south from Trainzaygues, a good +camping ground of woods and stream. A road runs up it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span> +to the refuge of Riomajou at its summit, and from this two +difficult cols can be reached by two branch paths which go +over either shoulder of the Pic d’Ourdissettou, that on the +right or west gets one down to Real and Bielsa; that on the +left ultimately and with some difficulty to Gistain and El +Plan. There is also an entry from the main valley into the +Sobrarbe, going up the main valley through Aragnouet, and +up the very steep pass called the Pass de Barroude; one also +comes out by this way on to Real and Bielsa, but it is by the +other fork of the Spanish valley.</p> + +<p>The pass called the Port de Bielsa proper marks what was +once perhaps the main pass north and south over these hills. +It leaves the valley at Leplan above Aragnouet and stands +between the two passes just mentioned. These and all the +difficult ports, springing from the three valleys of Tarbes and +crossing the central part of the range, lead one into the Sobrarbe +and the track described in the last division of this chapter.</p> + +<p>The valley of Arreau has an eastern fork following the +Louron at the head of which are further high passes, all in +the neighbourhood of 8000 feet, which lead one into the Posets +group and the eastern end of Sobrarbe. Of these the most +interesting is the port of Aiguestoites, which is that upon +which one comes by error if one misses the Col de Gistain on +the northern way from Bielsa to Venasque.</p> + +<p>The Cirques—the great semicircles of precipices—which +have always been remarked as distinctive of the Pyrenees, +are crowded in this region. The Cirque de Gavarnie is the +most famous, and therefore, in our time at least, impossible +for a man who really wants to wander. You cannot be alone +there; but the Cirque of Troumouse is not hackneyed and +should be seen once at least. You may reach it by taking +the road up from Luz to Gavarnie, and following it as far as +Jedre. Here the Gave branches, you go up the zigzag of +the road, past the church of Jedre, and take the path which +leaves the highway to the left and follows up the eastern +Gave, or Gave de Heas on its left bank. The path crosses +that stream 2 miles further on and follows up the right +bank to the little hamlet of Heas (which gives the torrent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> +its name). It continues getting less distinct past the chapel +of Heas; you turn a corner of a rock and find yourself in +this huge, bare, deserted circle of precipices with the Pic de +Gerbats at the left end of it, the Pic of Gabediou at the +east end, and in the midst the highest point, the Pic +d’Arrouye, which just misses 10,000 feet. The path continued +will take you up past some cabanes over the little glacier, +and across that steep and very difficult ridge down into the +Spanish valley of Pinède—which ends up, of course, in Bielsa.</p> + +<p>But for these ramifications of their higher ravines, the +three valleys of Tarbes are the least suitable for a man travelling +on foot; of the three, however, the Val d’Aure will afford +the most variety and the most isolation.</p> + +<p>If, for any reason, one of these three valleys is chosen for +a short holiday, Tarbes—where there is a good hotel, The +Ambassadeurs—is the centre from which one should start +and to which one should return; it faces right at the mountains, +it is the most truly Pyrenean town of all the plain, +and it is full of excellent entertainment. From Tarbes also +start the three lines which take you up each valley, to Argelès, +to Bagnères de Bigorre, and to Arreau.</p> + +<h4><i>Luchon</i></h4> + +<p>The valley of Luchon stands by itself as a separate division +of the Pyrenees. It has character altogether its own, formed +both by political accidents, which separate it from its twin +valley of the Upper Garonne—the Val d’Aran—and by its +physical conformation which thrusts the level floor of it up +further into the hills than any other of the Pyrenean gorges. +It is indeed made by nature to be one of the great international +roads of Europe and to lead into Spain, for it resembles in +many ways the trench running from Oloron southwards along +which the main Roman road, and the main modern road +find their way into Aragon. The valley of Luchon would +undoubtedly have formed the platform for such a road had +not two accidents interfered with that destiny: the first, +the great height of the ridge at the end of this particular +valley; the second, the lack of open country to the south.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span></p> + +<p>The Roman road from Oloron over the Somport finds a +wide plain and an ancient city at Jaca, within a day’s journey +of the central summit. But the valley of the Esera (which +is the Spanish valley corresponding to that of Luchon) is a +good three days’ travel in length before it gets one out of +the hills, and the first town of the plains on the Spanish side +(the modern symbol of whose importance is the presence of +the railway) is Barbastro 60 miles in a straight line from the +watershed, and not far short of 90 following the turns of the +mule path and lower down the road which reaches it.</p> + +<p>But for these accidents the way through Luchon would +undoubtedly be the great avenue from Toulouse to Saragossa, +and even as it is the pass over the ridge here (called the +Port de Venasque) is the most trodden and the clearest of +all the passes, other than those followed by direct highways.</p> + +<p>The valley of Luchon is the very centre of the mountain +system, for it lies just east of that division between the two +halves of the mountains, the eastern and the western chains. +It is a frontier also between two types of scenery and two +kinds of travel. It is the last of the deep flat valleys running +north and south, which are, so far eastward, the characteristic +of the chain. Immediately beyond it, to the east, begins a +combination of hills of which St. Girons is the capital, and +into which still further east penetrate the much larger valleys +of the Ariège and of the Tet.</p> + +<p>The Thermal Springs of Luchon, and a chance popularity +which made it the wealthiest holiday place in all the mountains, +have now fixed it as a sort of central spot which sums +up all travel in the Pyrenees. For nearly a century it has +had the character, which continually increases in it, of great +luxury, and of a colony, as it were, of the main towns of +Europe. But, for reasons which I mention when I come to +speak of inns and hotels in these mountains, it is in some +way saved from the odiousness which most cosmopolitan +holiday places radiate around them like an evil smell. The +influence of Paris is in some part responsible for better manners +and greater dignity than such tourist places usually show.</p> + +<p>The little town is very old; it is probably the site of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span> +Baths which were mentioned as the most famous of the +Pyrenean waters as early as the first century, and which +certainly stood in this country of Comminges. For Luchon +is the modern centre of the Comminges, and the Comminges +is first historical district of the Pyrenees west of the old +Roman province.</p> + +<p>For a man travelling on foot in the Pyrenees the chief +value of Luchon lies in its being the only rail-head which lies +close against the highest peaks. Here one can have one’s +letters sent and one’s luggage, and to this place one can +always return from the wildest parts of the Sobrarbe, or of +Catalonia, which lie on either hand just to the south-west +and south-east. It is also the best place in the whole range +in which to change English money.</p> + +<p>The valley, though it has great historical interest (and +everybody who has the leisure should see St. Bertrand at +the mouth of it), has, like those valleys to the west of it +which have just been mentioned, little to arrest a man on +foot, except in its last high reach. The ridge which runs +north for 12 miles beyond Luchon and lies west of the railway, +is high and densely wooded; but it is not good camping +ground and it leads nowhere, while that to the east, less +steep and not quite so densely wooded, has but one large +field for camping, the forest of Marignac; and even in Marignac +there is nothing but the wood to attract one. Once +through the wood one is back again upon a high road and +the valley of the Garonne.</p> + +<p>Above Luchon, however, there spread out a number of +valleys which are worthy of exploration in themselves, and +one of which is the main way over into Spain. For this last +we must continue the high road (which follows up the Pique, +the river that waters all the Luchon district) until one comes, +at the end of the causeway, to the hotel that was formerly +a hospice, and is still called by that name. From this point +a steep path takes one 3000 feet right up to the main ridge +and to the little notch in the rock which is called the Port +de Venasque. The path, though not so clear, is equally easy +on the other side, bringing one down into the valley of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span> +Esera and to the town of Venasque in the Sobrarbe. The +whole way from Luchon to Venasque, counting this steep +ridge, is one day’s easy going. There is no way across the +central range more simple or less difficult (though it is high), +and it has very fine views; as one crosses the summit one +has right before one culminating peaks of the Pyrenees, the +group of the Maladetta.</p> + +<p>Just to the east of the Port de Venasque (which is about +8000 feet high—to be accurate, 7930) is the Pic de Sauvegarde, +a path which is almost a road leads up to it; one +pays a toll; it is a sort of Piccadilly. The one purpose of +the climb is to see from the summit a very good all-round +view of the high peaks, which crowd round this turning point +in the chain.</p> + +<p>A less frequented valley, but one quite sufficiently frequented, +is that of the Lys, which one turns into out of the +main road by going off to the right; about 2½ miles after +leaving Luchon, a carriage road, 4 miles in length, takes one +up through the woods at Lys to an inn; thence forward in +the lovely valley and the half circle of peaks above, there is +country wild enough for every one, but no good camping ground.</p> + +<p>A further experiment for the man on foot, and one in +which he will be more dependent upon himself and less in +fear of invasion, is that of the Val Dastan, by which, and +the high Port d’Oo, one can get down to Venasque. For this +valley one goes up the new lateral road from Luchon as +though one were going into the Val d’Aure and to Arreau. +One may leave the road at any point after St. Aventin to +follow the stream below, but it is best to go on to a village +called Gari, which is somewhat more than 5 miles from +Luchon. At Gari is a road going south along a valley; +you follow that valley still going southward, till the road +comes to an end in the neighbourhood of a wood which bars +the upper end of the vale. A path, however, continues the +line of the road, makes its way through the wood, and at the +upper end of it you come out upon a fine lake. There is an +inn to the south of this lake, and if you will go on a little north +of the inn along the shores of the lake you will find very good<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> +camping ground. Indeed, it is wise to camp over-night on +this side of the range, for the climb up from Luchon is fatiguing, +and the country of a sort inviting one to rest and look +about one.</p> + +<p>Rejoining the path it passes between two small lakes, just +after leaving the wood, and climbs up the torrent past the +little tarn called the Lac Glacé, immediately above which is +the Port d’Oo. This port is a very high one, it falls little +short of 9000 feet, and it is not more than a depression in the +ridge around. On the further side a steep scramble marked +by no path, gets one down into the valley beneath the Posets, +and this valley is the same as that which I have described as +lying to the east of the Col de Gistain and leading to the Bridge +of Cuberre, and so to Venasque. It is a long and difficult way +round to that town from Luchon by the Port d’Oo, but it is +the wildest and therefore the best excursion one can make in +the circuit of these hills.</p> + +<p>I should mention before I leave this district that curious +plain, Des Etangs “Of the Lakes,” where is the Trou du Toro, +a small circular pond.</p> + +<p>The main source of the Garonne lies high up as befits the +dignity of such a river in among the very noblest peaks of the +Pyrenees; it springs from the eastern point of the Maladetta, +flows down in a torrent to this plain “Of the Lakes,” plunges +into the little pond, and there wholly disappears! It +reappears 2000 feet down at the Goueil de Jeou, on the +northern side of the mountains, having burrowed right under +the main range, and so runs down to Las Bordas. Sceptics +to whom all in these bewitched mountains is abhorrent, from +the realities of Lourdes to the legends of Charlemagne, annoyed +by this miraculous action on the part of the Garonne, poured +heavy dyes into the Trou du Toro, and then went and watched +anxiously at Goueil de Jeou to see the coloured stream emerge; +but the Garonne was too dignified to oblige them, and the +water came out limpid and pure; as for the dye, it has stuck +somewhere underground in the hills, and is colouring rocks +that will never be seen until the consummation of all things at +the end of the world.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp92" id="map06" style="max-width: 75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map06.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE TARBES VALLEYS & LUCHON</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span></p> + +<h3 id="VI_V">V. <span class="smcap">Andorra and the Catalan Valleys</span></h3> + +<figure class="figright illowp60" id="illus25" style="max-width: 20.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus25.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>One may consider together Andorra +in the Spanish valley of the Segre, +the upper valley of the Noguera +Pallaresa and Val d’Aran, for the +journey through Andorra down +to Seo, thence up out of the valley +of the Segre into that of the +Noguera, and so over to the +Upper Garonne, makes one +round, in which one covers one +whole district of the Pyrenees, +all Catalan.</p> + +<p>There are two ways by which the +curious country of Andorra can be +reached from the north; both ultimately depend upon the +valley of the Ariège.</p> + +<p>The first shortest and most difficult way is by the vale of +the Aston, a tributary of the Ariège which comes down a +lateral valley and falls in near the railway station of Cabanes +as the line from Foix to Ax; the second and easier way is by +climbing to the sources of the Ariège itself, the main river, +and over the Embalire.</p> + +<p>As to the first—all the spreading rocky valleys which combine +to feed the river Aston, form together a district of the +very best for those who propose to explore but one corner of +the Pyrenees during a short holiday. Even if such a traveller +be unable or do not choose to force one of the entries into +Andorra, he will have found on the Aston a country in which +a man may camp and fish and climb anywhere, with a sense +of liberty quite unknown in this kingdom. Here are half a +dozen or more little lakes, deep forests, occasional cabanes,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span> +good shelter, good bits of rock for such as like the risk, and +outlines and distances of the most astonishing kind, and no +landlords. Of the many high valleys I have seen in the world, +there is none less earthly than the last high reaches of the +torrent which runs between the Pic de la Cabillere and the +Pic de la Coumette, and which is the chief source of the Aston. +The whole basin of this river includes six main streams, and, +of course, many smaller torrents feeding these and the names +of the peaks alone discover their desertion and the mixture +of fear and attraction which they have had for the shepherds +of these highland places. You may spend a week or a month +or a whole summer in the neighbourhood and never come on +this enchanted pocket which is bounded on the frontier by the +high ridge running from the “silver fountain,” the Fontargente, +with its high peak and chain of lakes.</p> + +<p>The Aston has at its sources, cutting them off from Spain, +a ridge of 8000 to 9000 feet, it is a ridge the passes of which are +but slight notches between the higher rocks.</p> + +<p>The ways into Andorra across this ridge from the Upper +Aston are as numerous as these notches are, and nearly every +notch can be climbed with knowledge and patience, but the +only parts where something of a track exists are the Fontargente +on the east, and the Peyregrils on the west. It is easy +enough to fail at either, and there is therefore merit and sport +enough in succeeding at either.</p> + +<p>For the Peyregrils you must start from Cabanes and follow +up the main stream of the Aston, by a clear path through the +forest, taking with you the 1/100,000 map as a guide. A little +after a point where a bridge is thrown over the river (called the +Bridge of Coidenes), the two main streams of the Aston meet, +one is seen flowing down from the south-east by the wooded +gorge before one as one climbs, the other comes in cascades +down a steep gully, pointing directly north and south. It is +this gully which must be taken for the Peyregrils. One goes +up over a steep rock still in the thick of the wood. On the +far side of it one comes out into open grass country, and has +one’s first sight of the main range. The path comes down again +to the stream, having turned the cascade, crosses the stream and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span> +flows along its right or eastern bank between the water and a +range of cliffs which are those of the Pic du Col de Gas. +About a mile from this crossing of the stream, as one goes on +southward with a little west in one’s direction, one comes to a +side torrent falling in from the left; the path crosses this +torrent, and still continues up the right bank of the main +stream. It is a difficult point—for the path appears to bifurcate, +and by taking the left-hand branch, as I did four years +ago, one may lose oneself in the empty valley under the Cabillere +and be cut off for two days as I was, or for ever, as I was +not. It is by making these easy mistakes that men do get +cut off, and you may be certain that people who are found dead +in the mountains under small precipices, are not, as the newspapers +say, killed by some accident, but by exhaustion. They +have wandered in a mist, or have been lost in some other +fashion, until privation so weakens them that they no longer +have a foothold; and in general, the great danger of +mountains is not a danger of falling, but of getting cut off from +men. Here, as in many other difficulties of this kind, your +compass will save you; for if you find you are going more and +more to the east, you are on the wrong path. The right one +goes south by west along the left bank of the stream. There +is a broad jasse or pasture which one traverses in all its length, +one crosses another torrent coming in from a rocky gorge upon +the left, the torrent and the path together turn more and more +westward until one’s general direction is due west, and at last +one comes up against steep cliffs which are those of the Etang +Blanc.</p> + +<p>Thence, the way is plain, for the stream receives no further +affluents and there is therefore no ambiguity of direction. +The path follows the stream round a corner of rock whence +one can see a tarn called the Etang de Soulauet, lying immediately +under the watershed, and from that tarn the traveller +goes straight up for 500 yards or so over the crest, straight +down the steep further side, and finds at the bottom of the +valley the stream called Rialb: such is the passage called the +Peyregrils.</p> + +<p>Once one is down on the banks of the Rialb, one has but to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span> +follow the trail which runs along the bank of that stream, cross +it, reach the hamlet of Serrat, and so follow the broadening +water to the little town of Ordino; four miles beyond is +Andorra the Old. The whole distance from the pass to +Andorra is somewhat over 12 miles, counting all the windings +of the way. On this, as on so many crossings of the Pyrenees, +the difficulty is wholly on the French side, once on the Spanish +the broader valleys lead one without difficulty down one’s +way.</p> + +<p>The other entry into Andorra from the valley of the Aston, +that by the Fontargente, is managed thus:—</p> + +<p>When the Aston divides just after the bridge, one takes the +south-eastern fork, one crosses the bridge and finds a clear +path going up the right bank of the main stream of the Aston +through a wood. Four miles on this path brings one out of +the wood, and for another 4 miles it goes on still following the +same side of the stream in a direction which is at first east of +south, and at last curls round due south. There is a bridge +or two crossing to the other side, but one must not take them. +One must keep close to the eastern or right bank of the Aston +all the way until one comes to a place difficult to recognize, +and yet the recognition of which is immediately essential to +success. It is a jasse rather narrow and small, lying between a +rocky ridge upon the left or east and a line of cliffs upon the +right or west. Here are a few cabanes, and even if one has +missed the place on first coming to it, it can be recognized from +the fact, that, at the further end of this jasse, the two sources +of the Aston meet in almost one straight line, making with the +main stream one has been following, a shape like the letter +“T.”</p> + +<p>The path branches and takes either valley or arm of the +“T”; it is that to the <i>left</i> or east down which one must turn—the +one to the right or west leads nowhere but to the impassable +cliffs and precipices of the Passade and the Cabillere. +The eastern or right-hand path then must be followed in a +direction just south of east for exactly 1 mile, during all of +which it keeps to the north of the stream. At the end of that +mile it crosses the stream, turns gradually round a high lump<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span> +of rocky hill, going first south, then in a few yards south-west +until it comes, at about a mile from the place where it crossed, +upon the large tarn or small lake of Fontargente, “The Silver +Water.” The port lies in view just above the lake not 500 +yards off. Once over it, it is the same story as the Peyregrils, +a trail following running water which leads one through the +upper villages to Canillo, the first town, to Encamps, the +second one, and so down to Andorra the Old. The distance +from the main range to Andorra by this trail is 2 or 3 miles +greater than by the Peyregrils.</p> + +<p>These are the two difficult and mountain ways of making +Andorra from the north.</p> + +<p>The easier and much the commoner way is to approach it +from the upper waters of the Ariège.</p> + +<p>One takes the main road from Ax to Hospitalet up which +there is a public carriage or “diligence”; it is as well to go +on foot, for one will get to Hospitalet before the diligence if +one starts at the dawn of a summer’s day, and it is important +to get there early as there is no good sleeping place between the +French side and the town of Andorra itself. At Hospitalet +the main track for Andorra runs down in a few feet to the +torrent of the Ariège, crosses it, and follows its left bank. It +goes over the frontier which is here an artificial line, and +though you are still on the French side of the range, you are +politically in Andorra, upon this deserted grassy slope which +forms the left bank of the Ariège.</p> + +<p>At the second torrent which comes down this slope into the +river—or rather the second stream, for they are quite small—the +telegraph wire, which has hitherto followed the path, will +be seen going over to the right, up a somewhat steep side +valley. This is at a point about 4 miles from Hospitalet. +You have but to follow that line if it is fine weather, and you +will come right over the ridge and down on to the Spanish +side of the Andorran hamlet, Saldeu. If it is misty on the +heights you will almost certainly lose the line, and possibly +your life as well. Nevertheless the crossing can be made +even in bad weather by going somewhat further south to the +point called the Port d’Embalire. To find this needs a certain<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span> +care. Note with your compass the trend of the Ariège; it +curves round more and more as you follow it, and when it +begins to point <i>due south</i> (which it does after a perceptible +bend) you may note a fairly plain track coming down from the +opposite side of the valley: it comes down and strikes the +Ariège at a spot almost exactly 2 miles from the place where +the line of the telegraph left the stream. Here opposite the +road turn sharp up away from the Ariège (which is now but a +tiny brook) and go <i>due west</i> by your compass right up the +mountain, which is here nothing but a steep grassy slope, and +you will strike the Embalire.</p> + +<p>It is one of the few crossings which can be made in any +weather, because you will find upon that slope, a little way up, +the beginnings of a made road; that road was never completed. +It has never been metalled, but it is culverted and +graded, and is as good a guide as the best highway in the +Pyrenees could be. Probably it never will be finished, for +the Andorrans are opposed to an easy entry into their country; +but so long as its platform remains, one can never lose one’s +way upon the Port d’Embalire. The further side is a steep +and easy descent over a sort of down, and one finds Saldeu +by this longer route about 4 miles from the summit. Whether +one has followed the telegraph line or come over by the Embalire, +the two tracks join at Saldeu, and the rest of the way is +identical with that which you will come to by Fontargente, +that is, through Canillo and Encamps to Andorra the Old.</p> + +<p>Easy as the way is, however, it should be remembered that +it is a long day from Ax, for counting every turning, it is not +far short of 30 miles, and more than half of that is uphill. +Ax stands at about 2000 to 2400 feet (according to the part +of the steep town one measures from) and the summit of the +Embalire is almost exactly 8000 feet. There is no break in +the rise from one to the other.</p> + +<p>The interest of Andorra lies in its survival, and the recognition +it receives of being an Independent European State. +All these enclosed valleys of the Pyrenees led a more or less +independent life for centuries; from a decline of the Roman +power until the union of Aragon and Castille on the Spanish<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span> +side, and on the French side in some places, up to the Revolution +itself, they boasted their own customs and could plead +their own law.</p> + +<p>The violent quarrel between Madrid and Aragon, in which +the independence of Aragon was fiercely destroyed, affected +the greater part of the Spanish valleys, and killed their independence; +but it did not attack the Catalan valleys—of +which Andorra was the most secluded and remote, and therefore +Andorra survives.</p> + +<p>One may study in Andorra what all these valleys were in +the long period of local and natural growths between the very +slow death of the Roman bureaucracy, and the rapid rise +of the modern. The French, through the Prefect of the Ariège +(as representing the Crown of France, which in its turn +inherited from the county of Foix) claim a partial control +over the Andorrans who pay to the Government in Paris £40 +a year in fealty. The Spaniards have a hold on it through the +Bishop of Urgel, who is not only their Ordinary but also their +Civil Suzerain: he gets only £18 a year from the embattled +farmers.</p> + +<p>The Andorrans have all the vices and virtues of democracy +clearly apparent. They are very well-to-do, a little hard, +avaricious, courteous, fond of smuggling, and jealous of interference. +Also in Andorra itself one great shop supplies their +external needs, and conducts all their international exchanges. +Catalan, a provincial dialect in Spain, is here the national +language. They are divided, as are all Catholics, into Clericals +and Anti-Clericals, the Clericals making, I believe, a working +majority, and there is not among them, so far as one can see, +a poor man or an oppressed one.</p> + +<p>From Andorra the Old, a good open path leads through the +narrow gates of the country, down on to the valley of the Segre, +and so to Seo de Urgel.</p> + +<p class="tb">Though it is but a few hours’ walk from Andorra to Urgel, +it is as well to pass the remainder of the day and the night at +Urgel, especially if it is the first Spanish town you have seen, +as it is the first for many people who cross the mountains at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span> +this place. You will certainly find nothing more Spanish +along the whole range. This lump of a town with its narrow +oriental streets was the pivot of the Christian advance into +Catalonia. The Carolingian armies came pouring through +that easiest of the passes, the Cerdagne, enfranchised Urgel, +first of all the Mozarabic Bishoprics, and may be said to have +refounded its Christian existence. For some reason difficult +to discover Urgel fossilized quite early in the Middle Ages. +No line of travel, no road linked up the long valley of the Segre, +the armies and the embassies of the French knew nothing of +Lerida, and it is characteristic of Urgel to-day that even to-day +there should be no great road beyond it up the valley.</p> + +<p>From Urgel your road back into France through the upper +valley of the Noguera Pallaresa, and the Val d’Aran is difficult +to discover in its earlier part, unmistakable in the high +mountains; which is the reverse of the rule usual in other +crossings of the hills.</p> + +<p>You must go down the high road which runs south of Urgel +until you come, in something over a mile, to Ciudad, which +is that hill-pile of white houses, once fortified, which rises over +against the Cathedral city.</p> + +<p>There you must ask the way to Castellbo, which is two or +three hours away up a torrent bed, and you must go up this +torrent bed by way of a road.</p> + +<p>If you start early from Urgel you will be at Castellbo well +before noon, and the hospitality of the place is so great that +you will wish to stay there. There is only one drawback to +eating at Castellbo which is that you have after it to make a +passage of the mountains which, though here not very high, +well wooded and fairly inhabitated, do not bring you to proper +food and shelter until you have gone close on 20 miles and have +reached Llavorsi in the further valley of the Noguera; and so, +if you stop to eat your mid-day meal at Castellbo, it is quite +on the cards that you will have to camp out in the hills and +that you will not make Llavorsi until noon of the following +day; for the col in between, though it is very easy, is higher +above the sea than the Somport.</p> + +<p>From Castellbo you have but to ask for the village of St.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span> +Croz, which is perched upon a height just up the same valley, +but from there to the port the way is difficult to find for the +very reason that there are no <i>physical</i> difficulties. It is all +one long ridge of wooded grass like a down, with rather higher +peaks to the right and to the left and with more than one +indication of a path several directions. A good rule, however, +for finding the exact place where you should cross, is to make +for a spot due north-west from the village of St. Croz, and this +spot is further distinguished by the fact that it is on the whole +lowest upon the whole saddle. It is a mile and a quarter or +a mile and a half from the village, and as you go to it over the +easy grass you get a superb vision of the Sierra del Cadi barring +your view of Catalonia and standing up against you much +higher than ever it seemed from the floor of the Cerdagne. +No hills in Europe look so marvellously high.</p> + +<p>As the saddle of this port, which is called the port of St. +John, is so long and easy it might seem indifferent at what +point one crossed it; it is on the contrary very important to get +the <i>exact</i> place and for this reason, that on the further or north-western +side of it there is a profound ravine densely wooded, +if one does not make the <i>exact</i> spot one has no path +through this wood. That means hours of delay and one may +very well come out upon the right instead of the left bank of +the ravine; in which case in order to find the trail for Llavorsi +at the bottom of the valley one may have a precipitous descent +into the ravine and a bad climb out of it on the other side. +Look, therefore, carefully for the path which begins to be +clearly marked the moment the saddle is crossed, and follow +down it until you come to a steep rock which overhangs the main +stream at the bottom of the valley. This main stream is the +Magdalena and runs not quite 2000 feet below the summit of +the port. The trail is very distinct when once one has +reached the valley; small villages are passed; it climbs up +on the left bank to avoid a precipitous place and comes down +to the water again at a place where the Magdalena falls into +the main stream of the Noguera.</p> + +<p>Here you must descend to the floor of the valley and take +the road which is being made and which will in a few years<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> +form another great international highway up the valley of the +Noguera. The road runs all the way on the left or eastern +bank of the stream, which is broad and rapid and confined by +very high steep hills upon either side. Three miles from the +place where the path descended to the junction of the Magdalena +and the Noguera, you will find another large river +coming in. The road crosses by a wooden cantilever bridge +where one pays a toll (I think of ½d.), and once across one is +in the unpleasing village of Llavorsi.</p> + +<p>The valley opens somewhat and is called Anéu, having on +the left the exceedingly rugged and tangled chain of the Encantados, +a wilderness of rocky peaks and lakes—and on the right +a clear ridge which cuts off this country-side from the Val +Cardos and the Val Farreira, both wild districts at whose +summits is a bit of country as lonely as the Upper Aston.</p> + +<p>All the way from Llavorsi up this Anéu valley the new road +runs. I have not visited it for four years, and by this time it +must be nearly finished, at any rate it is perfectly straight +going and in all between 10 and 12 miles, with the exceedingly +filthy village of Escaló about half-way.</p> + +<p>It is not easy to give advice about sleeping in this walk from +Urgel to Esterri. The distance between the two towns in a +straight line is less than thirty miles, but the perpetual turning +of the path makes it quite forty by the time one has reached +Esterri, and what with the casting about for the right crossing +on the port and the height of that crossing, it is too much for +anyone to try and do in one day. Even if one were to sleep +at Castellbo it would not mend matters much, for Castellbo +is but a sixth of the distance, if that, and I would not recommend +sleeping at Llavorsi. I have said that if one ate at +Castellbo in the morning, it would mean camping out in the +woods below the port of St. John and this is perhaps the best +plan after all: to leave Urgel on the morning of one day, to +camp in the deep woods above the Magdalena and to sleep +at Esterri, on the night of the second day. There is a good +inn at Esterri, where everything is comfortable and clean, and +the whole place is more civilized than any other town or village +in the Pallars.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span></p> + +<p>The next day you will go over the Pass of Bonaigo into the +Val d’Aran, unless you prefer the much less amusing walk by +the new road up over the Port de Salau to St. Girons. It is +less amusing because it gets you into France almost at once, +whereas the walk into the Val d’Aran keeps you in Spain and +shows you a very interesting geographical and political accident +of the Pyrenees.</p> + +<p>The town of the Val d’Aran is called Viella, and it lies 20 +miles west by north of Esterri, between the two there is no +obstacle but a high grassy saddle called the Port of Bonaigo +the summit of which is exactly 3283 feet above the floor of +the Noguera at Esterri, and the interest of which lies in this, +that it stands right upon the junction of that “fault” which +was mentioned in the first division of this book.</p> + +<p>The Bonaigo is the exact centre of the Pyrenean system. +On your left as you cross it, to the south that is, is the +Saburedo, which is the last peak of the western branch. To +your right upon the north the hills lift up to the Pic de +l’Homme, which is the terminal peak of the eastern branch, +and the ridge uniting these two branches runs in a serpentine +fashion north and south with the saddle of the Bonaigo for +its lowest point.</p> + +<p>You will reach the summit, going easy from Esterri, in +about three hours, and thence you will see, if the weather is +clear, the distant snow of the Maladetta to the west, and in +the vale at your feet, the first trickling of the Garonne. For +by the twist the watershed here takes, you are crossing geographically +from Spain into France, though the valley of the +Garonne before you is still politically Spanish. The descent +upon the Val d’Aran is somewhat steeper than the ascent from +the Noguera, a path of sorts begins at the foot of it, and runs +down the Garonne to the first hamlet, the name of which is +Salardú. At Arties, a road begins, and 5 miles further on you +come to Viella and to rest.</p> + +<p>In Viella there is nothing but oddity to note: the oddity +of a French valley governed by Spain. You are quite cut off, +you will hear no news, and the only sign that you are on the +north of the mountains will be the great and excellently<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span> +engineered road leading down the Garonne from gorge to gorge +and reaching at last the French frontier at a narrow gate where +is the “King’s Bridge.” Some miles further on is the French +railway-head at Marignac. An omnibus starts in the early +morning from Viella at whatever hour it pleases and gets down +to the French railway in time for the mid-day train, but +whether you take it or walk down on foot, you had better +stop at Bosost, not half-way down, and there take the whittle +woodland road westward over the frontier by a very low gap +called the Portillon and so saunter into Bagnères de Luchon, +the noisy and wealthy capital of luxury. To come into +Luchon suddenly after such a journey is as sharp a change +as you can experience perhaps in all Europe. Do not forget +before you reach Bosost to look up the gully which comes in +from the left at a place called Las Bordas, some six or seven +miles from Viella. This gully is that of the true Garonne, the +fork of the river which we saw having such strange adventures +rising on the wrong side of the main watershed of the mountains, +burrowing right through them in a tunnel and coming +out upon the northern side; surely the only river in the world +which behaves in such a fashion.</p> + +<p>The walk which I have just described will have shown you +most thoroughly all the wild north-western corner of Catalonia, +and have taught you Andorra as well. Whether you take +Cabanes for your starting place, entering Andorra by the difficult +passes of the Aston, or whether you take Ax for your +starting place and enter by the easy pass of Embalire, you will +not make the whole round to Luchon in the best weather under +six days, and indeed a man who has but a week in which to +begin to learn the Pyrenees, might very well choose this little +square of them for his first introduction.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="map07" style="max-width: 75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map07.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE CATALAN VALLEYS & ANDORRA</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span></p> + +<h3 id="VI_VI">VI. <span class="smcap">Cerdagne</span></h3> + +<figure class="figright illowp100" id="illus26" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus26.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The Cerdagne forms a district quite separate from the rest +of the Pyrenees. Its scenery differs from that of the rest of +the range, its facilities for travel, its politics, everything in the +place is different; and though both valleys are Catalan, it is +well not to include in the same summary a description of the +Cerdagne and a description of the Roussillon.</p> + +<p>The Cerdagne is the only broad valley in the Pyrenees, and +it is a broad valley held in by walls of high mountains. All the +other trenches which nature has cut into the range, are, without +exception, profound and narrow. They expand occasionally +into enclosed circles of flat land, the floors of ancient lakes, +with a circle of steep banks all around, first wooded, then +rocky, and reaching almost to Heaven. But these solemn +circuses of secluded land, held in by narrow gates at either +end, and small compared with the rocks around them, have a +totally different effect upon the mind from those produced by +such a landscape as the Cerdagne. You here have a whole +country-side as broad as a small English county might be, full +of fields, and large enough to take abreast a whole series of +market towns. This is the sort of plain, which, were it +bounded by hills, rather low like our English downs, would +seem a little country by itself: a place large enough to make +up one of our European divisions, like the counties of +England, or the minor provinces of France. A broad river +valley, such as decides a score of places scattered over Western +Europe, here binds many households all united historically<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span> +and defines a corporate condition for a fixed community of +men.</p> + +<p>This picture is framed in two great lines of hills roughly +parallel to each other, and the effect when one comes upon it +out of the last of the narrow valleys, may be compared to the +effect upon a child’s mind when he first sees the sea.</p> + +<p>In order to perceive the full contrast of this exception in +the Pyrenean group, it is best to approach it from the west; +whether you are coming on foot over the foothills of the +Carlitte groups down on to Mont Louis or Targasonne, or +whether you are coming by the high road over the pass of +Porté, there comes a point in your journey where, after so +many gorges and narrow cliffs, the hills here suddenly cease at +your feet and you see the whole sweep of the Cerdagne as +broad as a field of corn; you will have seen nothing like it +all your way from the first foot hills of the Basque and the +shores of the Atlantic.</p> + +<p>On the eastern side, beyond the plain, you see the long ridge +which is among the highest of the Pyrenees, and which stands +steeply out of the flat. It stretches, as it were, indefinitely +away into Spain and was called for centuries by the Mohammedans, +and still is, the Sierra del Cadi. At its feet are a +group of villages and towns, Saillagouse, Odeillo, Bourg +Madame, Puigcerdá (with its curious little isolated hill), +Angoustrine, Palau, Osseja, Nahija, Err, and Caldegas, and +that fascinating territory Llivia, which stands enclosed, +making a little island of Spanish territory in the midst of +French.</p> + +<p>The structure of the Cerdagne explains its history. It is +a slightly sloping shelf upon the Spanish side of the watershed, +but the watershed here is not as it is everywhere else a steep +ridge with rocks, it is a large imperceptible flat which, for the +first few miles upon the northern side, slopes quite gently down +towards the valley of the Tet, and on the south side slopes +still more gently and easily away towards Spain. The Segre, +the last and largest tributary of the Ebro, rises in this gentle +plain in innumerable rivulets, which joins innumerable other +rivulets at Llivia, and then receives the river of Val Carol,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span> +the river of Angoustrine, and the little river of Flavanara below +Puigcerdá. There is in the whole extent of this plain no +natural feature to form a frontier, and (as its upper waters +form the only approach to the province of Roussillon) Mazarin, +when the treaty of the Pyrenees submitted the Roussillon to +the French Crown, claimed as a sort of right of way, the upper +stretch of this wide plain.</p> + +<p>The negotiations were not difficult, the frontier was drawn +just so as to give the French Government everywhere the road +down the Val Carol and up by Mont Louis to Perpignan. It +was not the frontier between two civilizations or languages, +the few square miles of the French Cerdagne, which is +geographically Spanish, are Spanish also, Catalan Spanish, +in customs, hours, architecture, and even cooking. It is +Spanish in everything save the functions of government; +and here you see just what differences government can and +cannot make in a country-side. Government, where it exists +against the will of the governed, effects nothing; but here +there is no such friction, and you may compare the contented +Cerdagne, which takes its orders from Paris, with the contented +Cerdagne that takes them from Barcelona and Madrid. +The subtle effect of the contrast is sufficiently striking; it +is seen in the type of roadway, the paving of courtyards, in +clocks that keep time upon one side and not upon the other, +and in a certain hardness, which French assurance breeds, +and which the Spanish ease avoids. It is a good plan as one +enters the Cerdagne to take the by-road which leads straight +across the plain from Urgel to Saillagouse. This by-road, +when you have pursued it for about a mile, enters the isolated +Spanish district of Llivia, and when you reach that town you +find yourself in Spain, although all the villages round you in a +circle are French villages. You have the Spanish delay, the +Spanish tenacity, and the Spanish disorder. On coming out +of it again, and immediately over the stream on the first +village, the influence of the distant prefecture and of a strong +hand upon the local community is apparent.</p> + +<p>The Cerdagne has one bad drawback that, for all its beauty +and wealth, its entertainment is bad. There is not, I think,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span> +one good inn in the whole of it, and at Saillagouse, where the +exterior looks most promising, the people are so hard-hearted +that there is no comfort to be found under their roofs. If you +are thinking of food, the best place perhaps for your head-quarters +is the little village of La Tour Carol. But if you are +thinking of sights, your best head-quarters is the town of Puigcerdá, +just beyond the Spanish frontier, 3 miles or so from +Latour.</p> + +<p>Puigcerdá is the capital of the Cerdagne, and there the +people gather as to a fair. It was the capital of the Cerdagne +long before the people knew or cared whether they were +governed from the north or from the south. One and a half +miles away, over the river in French territory, the tiny hamlet +of Hix marks the place where the old capital was before Puigcerdá +was founded and ousted it in the early Middle Ages. +From many points in Puigcerdá, from the terrace in front of +the Town Hall, from the northern end of one of its streets, +but especially from its church tower, you take in one view +the whole of the Cerdagne. As one gazes upon that view, +one should remember that this was the principal highway of +organized Christendom against the Mohammedan, and through +this went Charlemagne and his son.</p> + +<p>The Carolingian tradition is nowhere stronger, strong as it +is throughout the Pyrenees, than in this fruitful plain. The +very mountains perpetuate it with the name Carlitte, and +the valley of Carol and the popular songs perpetuate it also. +It was this broad floor, full of provisions and free from ambuscade +that allowed Christendom to dominate Catalonia, and +render free the country of Barcelona, first of all Spanish territory, +from the weight of unchristian government. It is the +Cerdagne, therefore, to which we owe the later segregation of +the Catalonians from the rest of Spain, their forgetfulness of +warfare, their active commercial unrest, their modern submission +to Jews, their great wealth. The Cerdagne should +possess a great road throughout, for it is all of one type and +all of one valley. By some historical accident it is not yet +(I believe) so served throughout. After Puigcerdá there +is a good new road all the way to Urgel. Another from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span> +Puigcerdá turns out of the valley of the Segre and runs off +south and east to Barcelona. Certainly Urgel—that town +we spoke of in connexion with Andorra—every one travelling +in this part should see: Seo, the “Bishopric,” the “See”; +a sort of Bastion first thrown out against the Mohammedans +by Charlemagne. It is more intensely Spanish perhaps +than any other large town in these hills, and that +because it has long been so thoroughly cut off from communication +with the north. Here also you can find good +hospitality. The people are kind, and local travellers are +common. Urgel is, however, more easily approached from +Andorra than from Puigcerdá. And upon that account I +dealt with it in connexion with the little republic.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="map08" style="max-width: 56.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map08.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE CERDAGNE</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span></p> + +<h3 id="VI_VII">VII. <span class="smcap">The Tet and Ariège</span></h3> + +<figure class="figright illowp64" id="illus27" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus27.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The valley of the Ariège is a basis +for going either southward into Andorra +by the tributary valley of the +Aston or westward into Roussillon +around the flanks of the Carlitte. +Of the former journey +I have spoken in connexion +with Catalonia. The latter +takes one into the valley of the +Tet, and so to the Canigou which +is the principal mountain of that +valley. The high road up the Ariège +and over the Puymorens Pass into +the Cerdagne and so into the +Roussillon does not concern us here. It is designed for travel +upon wheels. For going on foot the district is concerned with +the Carlitte and the Canigou.</p> + +<p>If one means to spend some time in the big group of the +Carlitte, one’s head-quarters must be Porté, the little village +just over the Puymorens Pass. It is from here that the ascent +of the highest peak is made and from here the fishermen start +for the lakes that surround that peak. If, then, one proposes +to spend some days camping in the mountain and going +nowhere in particular, it is from Porté that one must start, +as the nearest point to the summits. On the other hand, +nothing can be bought at Porté nor for miles around, and if +one ascends the mountain from Ax, though the distance is +greater, one is more in touch with provisions.</p> + +<p>The Carlitte group is remarkable for the number of lakes, +some quite large, which are to be found in the hollows just +under its highest ridges. On the north is the large Lake of +Noguille with the two little tarns of Rou and Torte just above<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span> +it on one side; on the other, two little tarns lie under the +Pic d’Ariel. The main lake is 6000 feet above the sea, not +far short of a mile long, 500 or 600 yards across, and very little +visited. On the south of the highest ridge and to the east of +the summit of the Carlitte, just above Porté, lies the still +larger lake of Lamoux. A good mile and a half in length, +but narrower than its twin upon the north. Besides these +two is the little group of lakes at the source of the Tet, another +group at the sources of the Ariège, and another of half a dozen +and more just under the eastern cliffs of the Carlitte which +feed the big marsh of the Puillouse.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately all this district, which is so wild and open for +travel, and so full of good fishing, has but few camping +grounds. The forest on the east of the Carlitte is one of the +largest in the Pyrenees, and one may camp anywhere within +it; but for a lake as well as wood one can find but four spots: +one, the Camporeils; the other, the little pond just above +Langles; the third, a whole group of lakes a mile south and +a little west of the marsh of Puillouse. It is by these last that +one will do well to camp if one is making one’s way over the +mountain eastward to Mont Louis, for they are within 5 miles +of that town, and just beyond it is the valley of the Tet. +The best camping ground in the neighbourhood of Ax is the +fourth spot, at the northern end of the lake of Noguille. Here +the lake, the stream flowing from it, and the wood are all close +together and as good a camping ground as any in these mountains +can be chosen. The way to reach this is to leave Ax +by the western road which branches off from the great national +road and runs up the valley of the Oriège to Orgeix. Beyond +this little village of Orgeix is another little village, Orleu, and +beyond that again at the head of the high road and not quite +5 miles from Ax is the point where you must turn off for the +lake. It is not easy to find because the whole distance is very +similar for miles. I will describe the way as best I can.</p> + +<p>After the road leaves Orleu you have upon the left very +precipitous steeps, rising to a height of some 6000 feet (or +more than 3000 above the dale) covered with a forest which +comes down very nearly to the road. On the right is a stream,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> +and beyond it another belt of wood, less steep, with bare and +high rocks above. Somewhat over an English mile, from the +Church of Orleu, a path leaves the road to the right and crosses +the stream, taking its way upwards through the opposing +wood; this path will lead you to the lake, but it is not the +best way. The best way is to go on further, somewhat over +half a mile to a group of huts called “The Forges.” Here you +will see on the other side of the stream a valley running +towards you from the mountain and coming from due south +as you look up it. The valley, or rather ravine, is that of +the torrent called Gnoles, and this is the gully you must follow. +It falls into the Oriège just by the forges. You must go some +yards beyond this junction of the streams and a path will be +seen going right off at a right angle to the road and making for +the gulley opposite. It crosses the Oriège at once, crosses +the torrent almost immediately after, climbs up the steep on +its left bank, crosses again on its right bank, and thence keeps +on due south between the rocks and the stream, through the +wood, until, at a point the height of which I cannot discover +but well over 2000 feet above the road, it comes out suddenly +upon the lake.</p> + +<p>Here is the best camping ground within a reasonable +distance of provisions and succour, and yet quite remote +enough for a hermit. Here with the aid of the 1/100,000 map, one +may wander and take one’s luck in the whole of this district +of high peaks, rocks, and tarns, which stretch every way for +8 or 10 miles around.</p> + +<p>If one’s object is to make one’s way into the valley of the +Tet, instead of spending one’s time in the mountains, the +direction is straight and the way apparently easy, but it contains +one difficult passage.</p> + +<p>Your business is to make from Ax to the village of Formiguères, +which is politically in the Roussillon, and lies south-east +by a trifle east from Ax, and, as the crow flies, barely more +than 15 miles away. You will, however, hardly get there +under 20 miles of going, and it is unlikely that you will do it +in one day.</p> + +<p>The first part of the road is plain enough. You follow up<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> +the valley of the Oriège, as though you were going to the lake +of which I have spoken, but instead of crossing over at the +forges and going south towards the lake, you go straight on up +the valley. Your path is not always distinct, but your main +direction is to stick to the Oriège as it gets smaller and smaller +in the high valley, and to look out for a path which runs along +that stream on its left or southern bank.</p> + +<p>For about 4 miles from the Forges you continue climbing +up the high valley of the Oriège, which is wooded upon either +slope, until you come to a place where the wood recedes upon +either side (though there is wood in front of you), and the path +crosses the torrent to the opposite or right bank. It is here +that the difficulty of the way begins.</p> + +<p>The path, you will notice by your compass, is at this point +going due south, for the Oriège has curled round in that direction. +Five hundred yards in front of you is a wood for which +it makes. Now, if you were to pursue the path through that +wood you would go clean out of your way, and either get +tangled up in the rocks that overhang the sources of the Oriège, +or get down into the marshy sources of the Tet. Neither of +these districts are what you want. When you get to the edge +of the wood, which, as I say, is about 500 yards from the point +where the path crosses the stream, you must turn sharp to your +left and go due east up a little watercourse, which here runs +down beside the trees. As you do this facing due east, and +looking up this watercourse you will see before you a ridge +like any other of the Pyrenees, with peaks upon it. This ridge +is the watershed between the County of Foix and the +Roussillon, and is to-day the frontier of the department of +the Eastern Pyrenees, which is the modern representative of +that ancient province. The ridge is plain enough, but to cross +it is not so simple a task as it looks. You must not attempt +to go across it by the depression which lies immediately before +you between two peaks. It <i>can</i> be done, but the chances are +you will lose your way in the great forest upon the further side. +The right way is to go on due eastward up the stream until +you are right under the ridge, from which point you must bear +to your left up the bank which encloses the gully upon that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span> +northern side. You will notice two peaks of rock at the point +where this bank branches from the main ridge. You must +so bear up that you leave them both to your right, and turning +round the base of that one which lies furthest west of the +two, you will see (when you are round the base and over the +bank) a saddle just east of you and about 600 or 700 feet below +the rocky peaks in question. This is the <i>Porteille</i>; you will +go across it, come into the dense wood on the other side, and +there the path follows running water all the way throughout +what soon becomes a profound gorge, until you reach open +country and a few small buildings 3 miles further down; +though the open country, it is true, is only a small stretch of +meadow between the wood and the river (a stream called the +Galbe). The way is clear between the wood and stream for 2 +miles more to the hamlet of Espousouille. There you must +leave your path and take one which branches straight off to +the right, goes down to the stream, crosses it, rises through the +wood beyond, and in less than a mile from Espousouille, +brings you into the considerable village of Formiguères.</p> + +<p>I have already said that you would not easily manage this +crossing in a day, even in fine weather. The Porteille is over +7000 feet high, and you may quite possibly lose your way for +an hour or two in the difficult bit, but luckily there is no difficulty +about camping. There is good camping ground with +wood and water in every part of the journey, except the last +mile of the steep going over the ridge. And you have only to +choose where you will pass the night.</p> + +<p>This is the shortest cut by far from the County of Foix into +the Roussillon. If you are going down into the Cerdagne a +great national road takes you from Formiguères to Mont +Louis, and the distance is about 9 miles, but if you are going +down into the valley of the Tet in order to climb in the Canigou +you must make for Olette, for that cuts off a corner. Olette +is just under 10 miles in a straight line from Formiguères, +but the county road which joins them has to cross a pass and +is full of windings, so that the whole distance, even if you take +short cuts to cut off the long turns, is more like 14 miles. The +pass, which is nearer 6000 than 7000 feet high, is 1200 feet<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span> +above Formiguères, and stands just opposite that town in full +view, the summit of it about 2 miles away to the south-east, +but there is no need to describe the road, as it is an ordinary +carriageway from the one place to the other. At Olette you +are on the Tet, about 5 miles from the old rail-head at +Villefranche (the new rail-head is at Bourg Madame on the +Frontier).</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="map09" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map09.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE ARIÈGE & TET VALLEYS</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span></p> + +<h3 id="VI_VIII">VIII. <span class="smcap">The Canigou</span></h3> + +<figure class="figright illowp60" id="illus28" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus28.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The Canigou, whichever way one +looks at it, is a separate district +and must be separately approached +and separately travelled in. It +stands apart from the rest of the +range, it has a different character, +and travel in it is of a different sort +from other Pyrenean travel. It is +not only physically cut off from the +rest of the Pyrenees, indeed, its +physical isolation has been a good +deal exaggerated by people who have +looked up to it from the plain and +have not carefully noted its plan; +it is rather morally cut off by the +way in which it dominates one particular province and one +famous plain to the exclusion of every other peak; so that +when you are going through the Roussillon, especially along +the sea coast, the only thing you can think of is the Canigou, +which seems to be as much the lonely spirit of the district, +as Etna does of the sea east of Sicily, or as Vesuvius does of the +Bay of Naples. It will perhaps sound surprising or unlikely +to those of my readers who know the Pyrenees, when I say +that the Canigou is not physically isolated from the chain, +it is indeed less isolated in its way than is the Pic du Midi de +Bigorre, or even the Pic du Midi d’Ossau, for it is connected +with the south by a high ridge which one can hardly ever see +at full length from the plain, and which is, I think, only clearly +observable from the frontier heights south of Arles upon the +Tech. How thorough is the connexion, however, what +follows will show.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span></p> + +<p>The Canigou is somewhat over 9000 feet in height, to be +accurate 9135, yet it is but the terminal point <i>and not the +highest point</i> in a long ridge which runs south-westward to the +frontier at the Roque Couloum. It next forms that frontier +for 15 or 20 miles, and is then continued past the Port de Col +Toses into Spain, where it forms the magnificent wall of the +Sierra del Cadi.</p> + +<p>A man without heart or vision would see in the Canigou +nothing but the last northern point of that long range, but the +political accident which makes the Roussillon French, the +cross chain which springs from the Pic de Couloun and runs +to the Mediterranean, and above all the aspect of the mountains +from the civilized wealthy plain to the north and east +(where the connecting ridge cannot be seen), and its false +appearance of isolation when one observes it from the sea, all +make of the Canigou one of the most individual mountains in +Europe.</p> + +<p>There are, as I have said, many heights in its own ridge, +further to the south and west, which surpass it. The Donyais +is within a few feet of it, the Enfer or Gous and the Pic du +Géant next door, above the valley of the Tet, are higher; the +Puigmal just on the watershed is much higher. The summit +of the Canigou is but 1500 or 1600 feet above the crest of the +ridge in its own immediate neighbourhood, and even the lowest +point in that ridge (the Col de Boucacers) is not 2000 feet +below it. Nevertheless, it produces, as I have said, an effect +of unity and of isolation, and there is not only the illusion +of its outline as seen from the north and east, but also the fact +that the mountain spreads out in a fan of ridges from its +summit to the lowlands all around, and stands upon a broad +expanded base, more or less circular in shape, spreading from +the Tech upon the south to the Tet upon the east, north, and +west.</p> + +<p>The Canigou is not a mountain that gives one any climbing +to speak of, or that affords any problems or difficulties. There +is even, nowadays, a carriage road most of the way up on the +northern side, but it is the best place for camping and changing +camp that you can find anywhere. All the flanks of it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span> +are covered with a series of dense woods; they form a belt +2 or 3 miles deep (in places nearly 5) and running almost +continuously round the whole mountain, a circuit of at least +30 miles. Your choice for halting and camping places in these +woods is infinite, there is water everywhere and you are nowhere +too far from provisions. If you will take the road from +Villefranche up to Vernet you will, at that village, be near the +steepest side of the mountain and a wood which everywhere +affords excellent camping ground. By following up the +path to Casteil and taking the track which leads south and +east from that hamlet, you are at the inhabited point nearest +to its summit, and you have wood and water up to the last +mile in distance, or the last 2000 feet in height; but remember, +if you wish to make for the summit by this trail, that you +must always bear to the right as you walk, choosing always +the right-hand trail when there is a diversion, and coming +out on the south side of that ridge which has the summit at +one end and the Peak de Quazémi at the other. On the open +part of this steep bit there is a definitely marked path which +follows the left bank of the stream until it is right under the +last rocks of the Canigou and then makes straight up by +zigzags. If you would go the easier way which everybody +takes, you must start from Prades, which is the town of the +mountain, and in which anyone will show you the house where +the local agent of the French Alpine Club is ready with +information.</p> + +<p>Your road goes through Taurinya (or if you start from +Villefranche, through Fillols), and the new carriage road +runs up the ridge between the two valleys—the valley of the +Fillols and the valley of Taurinya—first over open country, +then through wood until you come to quite the upper part of +the Taurinya, where the road turns round the steep corner +overhanging the sources of the torrent. This particular +wood is called the wood of Balatag, a word that is not so hard +to pronounce in Catalan as in French, for the Catalans add +an “e” at the end of it.</p> + +<p>The road does not go to the actual summit, but comes out +on to the shoulder of the mountains, an open space looking<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span> +to the north, north-west and east, where stands the hotel +which has been put up by the French Alpine Club. This hotel +is not quite 2000 feet below the highest summit which lies +exactly to the south of it. The other summit to the north-east, +the ridge of which comes round behind the hotel, is the +Pic Puigdarbet. You must allow five or six hours to get to +the hotel without haste from the valley of the Tet, and the +road is somewhat shorter if you start from Villefranche, than +if you start from Prades, but of the two ways, much the more +interesting for a man on foot is the old way by Casteil and the +Brook Cady which I first described. Here you can camp half-way +up the mountain without fear of disturbance from travellers, +choosing, for preference, the end of the wood just under +the summit, and so make that summit at dawn.</p> + +<p>Unless you are in a hurry to get on to Perpignan, one of the +best ways of treating the Canigou is to go across it from the +valley of the Tet into the valley of the Tech, and from Arles +on the Tech to take the railway through Ceret and Elne to +Perpignan.</p> + +<p>It is of course a long way round, but it shows you both +sides of the mountain.</p> + +<p>You could hardly get right across the main ridge from the +hotel; but you can take the path that goes round the northern +flank of the mountain, that is, through the wood that clothes +the buttresses of the Pic Bargebit, and that comes out in the +valley of the Dalmanya, a torrent running down north-eastwards +from the summit. If you are afraid of losing your way +you can go down into the village of Dalmanya and up thence +by a clear path from the church of the village to the iron mines +under the Col de Cirere; from that col there is a very winding +high road (of which of course you can cut off most of the turnings) +which gets you down to Corsady and so to Arles. On +the southern side of the mountain you can go down the path +which follows the Brook of Cady, and do your best to note the +Peak of the Thirteen Winds which is the peak precisely due +south of the main summit and 3000 feet from it at the end of +the long ridge. When you have made quite certain which is +the Peak of the Thirteen Winds, cross the brook, and work up<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span> +if you can to the saddle immediately south-west of it, and +between it and the Pic de Routat, which is a trifle lower and +rises a thousand yards to the south-west of the Peak of the +Thirteen Winds.</p> + +<p>This col is called the Portaillet, and the valley on the further +side is called “The Old or Abandoned Pass.” When you have +got across you will know why. A wood covers its lower part, +and a little brook called the Cambret runs through it, but there +is no regular path, and it is a business to find the first huts, +which are at an open space upon the stream between it and +the wood, and quite 4000 feet below the col.</p> + +<p>The descent is exceedingly steep, and there I leave it.</p> + +<p>From these huts (which are called St. Duillem) is a good +plain path down to the Tech, and to the little hamlet which +has the same name as the river (Le Tech) whence the national +high road takes one in 6 miles to Arles, the more usual crossing +(which is not really a crossing of the mountains at all, but a +crossing of the ridge to the south of it) is by the Pla de Guillem, +so called because it does not go near Guillem, and this way is +as plain as a pike-staff. You take the road from Villefranche +to Fuilla, which is not quite 3 miles off, first up the Tet, then +to the left southwards up a lateral valley, you follow that +lateral valley and the high road up it from Fuilla to Py, rather +more than 5 miles on, and southward all the way from Py a +path goes south-west up the right bank of a torrent which +comes in there. The track is quite clear and carries you up +to the sources of the stream, and to the saddle in the final +ridge which is called the Pla de Guillem. It is a steep climb +of nearly 4000 in rather more than 4 miles. Py at the junction +of the streams is just over 3200 feet above the sea. The pass +is about 7000.</p> + +<p>On the further side also the track is quite plain, pointing +down due south-east through a little wood and then over the +open country. It takes you down to Prats de Mollo, a jolly +little town, the last on the great national road and the highest +in the Tech valley. Above it the national road becomes the +local road leading to the baths and waters.</p> + +<p>So late as the Revolutionary Wars Mollo was of importance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span> +and may be again, for the Spanish armies could come over +(but not with guns) from the other Mollo, which lies beyond +the frontier 7 or 8 miles off south-east, over the Col of Arras. +Mollo is a little lower than Py, but the descent upon it is far +less steep than was the ascent upon Py. From Mollo it is +somewhat more than 10 miles to Arles by the national road +down the valley.</p> + +<p class="tb">The Canigou is so particular a thing that if a man has but +little time before him, or if he already knows the other Pyrenees—he +might do worse than go to Perpignan and spend +a week upon that mountain. It should be remembered that +you have a better chance of fine weather there than in any +other part of the Pyrenees, and you will usually have dryer +days upon the Tech side than upon the Tet side.</p> + +<p>With these eight divisions I have roughly covered the chain +of the Pyrenees for those who may, like myself, think that all +travel on these mountains should be on foot. It is, of course, +but a very rough and general survey, but it would give one, +all taken together, a comprehensive knowledge of the chain. +My limits have necessarily excluded very many valleys, some +of which are unknown to me, such as the valley of Isaba. +Among those which I have not dealt with should be considered +especially the Ribagorza, which is the boundary between the +Aragonese and the Catalan tongues, and runs parallel to Pallars +or the valley of Esterri, and can be reached from the valley +with some difficulty by Espot and the high Portaron above it, +or much more easily from Viella in the Val d’Aran, by the high +Port de Viella, which leads straight into the Ribagorza and +down to Bono. There are also entrances in and out of Andorra, +of which I did not speak, notably the Porte Blanche, which +you make from Porta in the Val Carol, a mile or two south +of Porté. This way involves two cols, one very high one, +the Porte Blanche, another lower one immediately after, the +Port de Vallcivera. It is, however, the shortest way from a +French high road to Andorra the Old. There is another way +in and out of Andorra, very little used, by the Col de la Boella +from Ordino to the Val Farrera. All the Basque valleys<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span> +besides those I mention, and notably that of the Isaba, are +places that should be known, and of the passages over the +range, which I have not dealt with in detail, one, the road from +St. Girons to Esterri by the Port de Salau, will soon be an +international highway. It presents no difficulties and no very +considerable interest. But if the traveller finds himself by +some accident in St. Girons with but a day or two in which +to see Spain, here is a very easy way of getting over into +what is still one of the remotest parts of that country.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="map10" style="max-width: 56.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map10.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p>THE CANIGOU</p></figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="VII">VII<br> +<span class="smaller">INNS OF THE PYRENEES</span></h2> + +</div> + +<figure class="figleft illowp51" id="illus29" style="max-width: 17.1875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus29.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>There is nothing more +necessary to the knowledge +of a district if one desires to +enjoy travel in it, than to have some +directions upon its inns. I cannot pretend +in what follows to give any complete +list of the inns which the traveller +will find in the Pyrenees, but I will try +to do what the guide-books do not do, +and that is to indicate what an +Englishman, especially one +on foot, may expect in the different +valleys. The foreign +guide-books rarely do this well: +the Scotch and English guide-books +never; for the general +phrases which they use about +inns and hotels leave one as +full of doubt and terror as though nothing had been +said about them, and they always fail to speak good or evil +of the <i>people</i>, the <i>cooking</i>, and <i>the wine</i>—which are the three +main things one wants to hear about.</p> + +<p>First then, as to the difference between the Spanish and the +French side.</p> + +<p>Though the Basques are one race upon either side of the +frontier, and the Catalans also, yet a single rule governs the +whole length of the chain, which is that French cooking and +French hours are to be found to the north of the political +frontier, and Spanish to the south. This is a matter in which +the difference of Government has, in the course of some generations<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span> +of travel, produced a very marked effect. The Val +d’Aran, for instance, is geographically and racially French. +Its river is the Upper Garonne, there is no obstacle between it +and the French plain, but only one good descending road to +unite them both; yet your experiences of an inn in the Val +d’Aran will in general resemble your experiences of an inn +beyond the mountains in the purely Spanish valley of the +Noguera.</p> + +<p>Similarly the neighbourhood of Saillagouse and all the +French Cerdagne is geographically and racially Spanish, the +river running through it is the Upper Segre (a tributary of the +Ebro), and one road with no obstacle at the frontier, unites the +French to the Spanish portion of the valley, yet the hours, +habits, cooking, and everything in the inns of the French +Cerdagne are French, in those of the Spanish Cerdagne, +Spanish; and generally you must be prepared, when you +cross the frontier, for a different kind of hospitality.</p> + +<p>The French rule of an inn is probably well known to all who +will read this. The coffee in the morning, the first meal at or +a little before mid-day, the second at six or seven at the +latest, and so forth. In Spain they will give you +chocolate for your first meal. Your mid-day meal +will be at the same hour as the French, but your last +meal much later: eight is a usual hour. In France, if you +ask for food at an odd time it will be prepared for you; in +Spain also but only with incredible delays, and you find +universally upon the southern side of the frontier, this +difference from the French that the table d’hôte or common +meal is prepared only for a fixed number of guests. Newcomers, +even if they reach the place two hours before the hour +of the supper, have it separately cooked for them, and will +suffer a corresponding delay. Here is a national custom which +nothing can change, and which is as old as the hills. It was +even once universally the habit to have a separate little cooking +pot for every guest, and in certain inns that habit is still +continued. It is in the last degree inconvenient, and when +one has pushed on to the end of some very long day, to shelter +and food, it is exasperating. One sees the local people who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span> +have done nothing, eat a hearty meal; and one waits an hour +or two hours before one is served with a crust. But you can +no more change it than you can change any other national +habit, and you must be prepared for it on the Spanish side +wherever you go. All the details of the cooking are different +too; notably these: that for some reason or other, the +Spaniard is careless of his oil, or perhaps prefers oil to have a +taste of carelessness about it: in places of rancidity. His +wine is quite different from the wine of the French. It comes +up to him from the hard plains of the Ebro; it has been kept +in wine skins and tastes of them. As a rule drink water with, +or better still after, Spanish wine. The French wine in these +hills (save in the Roussillon) comes from the plains of the +Garonne, and has been kept in wood. It has the taste with +which we are familiar in this country; the Spanish wine has a +roughness, a strength, and a memory of goat’s skin, with +which, until he comes to Spain, no northern man can have any +acquaintance at all.</p> + +<p>It must not be imagined that Spanish accommodation is +cheaper than French; comfort for comfort, it is, if anything, +a little dearer. But the Pyrenees are cheap everywhere, save +in one or two watering-places. Nearly every inn upon either +side, however small, can furnish you with a guide, but not +every inn with mules, and still less can you depend upon a +horse or a carriage, even in places which stand upon the few +great highways. If you must hire mules, you will always be +able to find one in the village where the inn stands, but, for +some reason connected with their local economics, the people +of the inn are sometimes actively opposed and often indifferent +to your hiring one, and if they tell you that there is no mule +to be had (which is their way of opposing you) you must then +saunter out and bargain for one with some rival, but remember +that you can always get one: all these mountains are covered +with herds and droves of mules. Yet mules are expensive, +from 1000 to 2000 francs to buy, or even more; from 30 to 50 +francs per day to hire, with the man who accompanies you. +Remember also, if you have a choice where to hire, that they +are better by far upon the Spanish than upon the French side.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span> +As for horses and carriages, I will, when I speak of particular +inns, mention the few places where I know they can be hired.</p> + +<p>A further difference between the French and Spanish side +is that, on the whole, an inn upon the Spanish side is less +likely to be clean. This does not mean that they are generally +uncleanly, very far from it; the houses of the whole of the +Basque country on either side are excellently kept, and this +is generally true of Catalonia also, but the little hamlets, in +the highest valleys which are doubtful upon both sides, are +usually worse upon the southern. In every case, of course, +you must ask the price of rooms, they expect it, and it is best +to ask the price of meals as well. If you do not bargain in +this manner, they think of you as of some one who is deliberately +throwing money away and they very naturally hasten +to pick it up. I remember one meal in the very unsatisfactory +town or village of Llavorsi, which was as unsatisfactory as the +place itself, and for which a violent Catalonian woman would +have charged us the prices of Paris because we did not bargain +beforehand, and this, note you, in a place where no one ever +comes, which is on the road to nowhere, and which does not +see tourists perhaps, or even travellers, once in six months.</p> + +<p>In every valley there is some one inn which, if you are wise, +you will choose, and which it is worth one’s while modifying +one’s plans to visit. I will set down those which I know, +beginning as I have done throughout this book, at the western +end of the chain, and following it to the east.</p> + +<p>In the Baztan, a Basque word for tail, for the valley +resembles in shape the tail of a rat, though the other <i>Bas</i>tans +in the Pyrenees, out of the Basque countries, derive their +name from the Arabic word for garden, Elizondo should be +your halting-place. Here there are two hotels, one old and +one new, the old one in the very middle of the town on the +high road, the new one a little to the north, just off the high +road. This new hotel is kept by one Jarégui, and in the chief +feature of all good hotels (I mean the courtesy and zeal of the +management) it is far the best, not only in Elizondo, but in +the whole valley. If you should wander on to Pamplona, I +can give no advice, but it is a large town where a man<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span> +may have pretty well what he wants according to the price +he pays. My own experience of it is of lodging in small eating-houses, +not in a regular hotel, but I understand that the +Perla and the Europa are the two best hotels, and of these +two, people, as one travels, single out the Europa. On the +road from Pamplona to Roncesvalles, there is no good +stopping-place. At Erro, as I have said above, there is but +one inn and that a very bad one. Burguete is, however, a +very pleasant village, and the Hotel des Postes is praised by +those who have stopped there. Unless one is caught by night, +or in some other way impeded, it is unwise to eat or to sleep +at Val Carlos, the contrast between French and Spanish +methods is nowhere more violent whether in the matter of +cooking, or of delay, or of wine, or of any other thing, than at +this corner of the frontier; but it is to be remembered that if +you need a horse and carriage you can always have it at Val +Carlos for going on into France, and at St. Jean Pied-de-Port +you are in the best halting-place for the valley of the Nive +and the whole Labourd, just as Elizondo is the best halting-place +for the Baztan. St. Jean Pied-de-Port is large enough +and frequented enough to have some choice of hotels. You +had much better go to the best, which is the Central. The +reason it will be worth your while to do this is, that though it +is the best hotel in a town to which many rich people come, it +is as cheap as it is good. It will always have a carriage for you +if you want it, it has a garage, and it is the best centre from +which to start upon any of the roads around; and if +you should be coming from the north and going south there is +a public service from this hotel through the pass as far as +Pamplona.</p> + +<p>In the next valley, that of the Soule (the river of which is +the Saison, and the chief town Mauléon) let Tardets be your +head-quarters. It has one of the most delightful inns in all +the mountains, remarkable among other things for having +various names, like a Greek goddess. Sometimes it is called +the “Voyageurs,” sometimes the “Hotel des Pyrenees,” +and it is entered under the arcade of the north-west corner of +the market square. There you may dine in a sort of glass<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span> +room or terrace overlooking the river, and every one will treat +you well. It is, I say, one of those places that would make +one hesitate to go on further into the hills the same day, but +if one does, one will find the unique inn at St. Engrace, which +I have already mentioned, one of the best that the smaller +villages have; it must always be remembered, of course, that +these upland hamlets give one nothing but their own fare, and +usually a bedroom that is reached through some other, but +the beds here are good and the cooking plain. This is the +first house in the village on the right as you come in, and as +in Elizondo, Jarégui is the name. Remember that they have +various sorts of wine, and ask for their best, for even their +best costs very little, and their worst is not so good. In +the valley between Tardets and St. Engrace, before you leave +the main road, you pass by the hotel of Licq, “Hotel des +Tourists.” Licq itself you leave to the right beyond the river, +but this hotel is built upon the high road. Here is a good place +for one meal, though there is no point in sleeping there, yet +if one is caught by some accident, one will find it comfortable +enough; a little bothersome in pressing one to take guides.</p> + +<p>The next valley, the Val d’Aspe, and its prolongation on the +Spanish side, the Val d’Aragon, contain many inns, the more +important of which should be known before one approaches +them.</p> + +<p>In Oloron itself, there are two good hotels of which the +Voyageurs is perhaps the best, and there is, of course, every +opportunity, in such a town, of hiring horses and carriages. +There is also, it must be remembered, a public service +twice a day up the pass as far as Urdos, not expensive +but very slow: no rail yet. It will be possible also at +Oloron to hire a pair of horses and a carriage if one wants +one for several days to go into Spain and back by way of the +Val d’Assau.</p> + +<p>There is no occasion to stop, whatever be your mode of +travel, between Oloron and Bédous, but should you take up +your head-quarters at Bédous (which, it will be remembered, +is in the midst of the enclosed plain which characterizes this +valley), make the Hotel de la Paix your head-quarters. You<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span> +will be best treated there, and it is the best centre for information +upon the surrounding mountains. Accous is slightly +larger than Bédous, but it is off the road and therefore less +used to travellers; also it is less comfortable. So if you stop +in this plain at all, stop at Bédous.</p> + +<p>Your next point will be Urdos, there is nothing of consequence +between.</p> + +<p>Urdos, having been, for so many centuries between Roman +civilization and our own, the end of the proper road over this +chief pass and the jumping-off place for the mule tracks and +for Spain, has many inns for its size—(it is no more than a +hamlet)—but of these I will unhesitatingly recommend the +<i>Voyageurs</i>, which is one of the last houses on the left of the +village, having at the south end of it over the road a jolly little +terrace where one dines. The drawback of Urdos is that one +<i>may</i> get bitten, and speaking of this the sovereign remedy is +camphor, or rather I should say, the sovereign preventive, +for all animals that bite hate the smell of camphor. But +for that little drawback, Urdos is delightful and nothing is +pleasanter in Urdos than the Hotel de Voyageurs, also if you +go to this hotel you are following the line of least resistance, +for it is in some mysterious way related to the man who drives +the coach. Remember that Urdos is accustomed to every +form of halt, and though it is difficult to buy things there, +there is a barn for motors—and also, I believe, relays of horses +for carriages.</p> + +<p>Your next village on this main international road is Canfranc +in Spain. It is just over 14 miles off with nothing but a refuge +and the pass of the Somport between. The hotel is the Hotel +Sisas, from which a public coach starts for Jaca daily, +still, I believe; the cooking is doubtful, the wine so-so, and +the people are a little spoilt, but they are very ready with +horses and used to hiring them, and you can always hire a +carriage or get a relay for Jaca, which is 16 miles further down +by a road with no steep hills, and for the most part nearly +flat. At Jaca the hotel (which I have already spoken of) is +the Hotel Mur; it is excellent in every way, clean, cheerful, +and not too simple in its customs, with various wines, and a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span> +knowledge of more than the Castilian tongue. The mention of +this leads me to add to what I said above that the language +stops very suddenly at this central frontier, or at least south +of it. There will be people who will understand Spanish +almost anywhere in Béarn because the local dialects are +Spanish in character, but the common French of Paris means +nothing to the people of Aragon and Sobrarbe; you may be +in quite a big place and find no one for a long time who will +understand you, while in the small hotels and inns right up +against the frontier, they do not follow a word of the language.</p> + +<p>Of the inns of Biescas I cannot speak from experience, nor +of those of Panticosa, though they say that the only useful +one in Biescas is the Hotel Chauces, while Panticosa has any +number of places with such names as “Continental” and +“Grand,” and masses of lodgings as well, among which I +imagine the only choice is to take the best; nothing is really +dear there, except in the month between the middle of July +and the middle of August. Of Sallent, however, I can speak. +There is but one inn in the place; it has many names but is +best known by the name of the man who owns it, and his name +is Bergua. It is an astonishing mixture. The owner is +wealthy and good natured, but you do not hear the truth +about things for it is coloured by self interest. The place is +clean, but slow even beyond the ordinary of a Spanish inn. +The cooking is neither one thing nor another, the wine is not +bad. It is a place where you may spend one night, but not +two. You will leave it without enthusiasm, and without +regret.</p> + +<p>Next, following the itineraries I have given, comes Gabas, +and here is as pleasant an inn as you will find in the whole +world, it is called the Hotel des Pyrenees, and of the several +hotels it is the dearest. The family of Baylou keep it and have +inherited this soil for generations. It is an ancestor of theirs +that planted the delightful Mail outside and set up the charming +little fountain there. They are used in this house to every +sort of gentlemanly habit, they pay no attention to the clothes +in which one comes, and they understand all those who love +to wander in the hills. Everything is clean and good about<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span> +the place, they will give one well-cooked food in many courses +at any hour. There is but one criticism to make and that is +in the matter of horses and carriages; these are dear, and the +good and the bad cost the same money, for there is here a +monopoly of the valley, and if you do not take their vehicle, +you must walk to the rail-head, 8 miles lower down. Also if +for some reason you must drive or get a relay of horses, the +longer notice you give the better, for there are few animals to +be had.</p> + +<p>Further down the valley is Eaux Chaudes, a dreary place, +incredible from the fact that it was here that much of the +Heptameron was written! If a man must stop there, let +him; of the sad gloomy barracks, take the largest and the +dearest, which is the Hotel de France. Laruns, at the foot +of the valley, where again you are unlikely to stop, but where +you may be caught, has the Hotel des Touristes, where also +horses and a carriage may be hired, and whence the omnibus +goes to Eaux Chaudes and to Eaux Bonnes. This last place, +like Panticosa, is a place one can make no choice in, it is +crowded with the rich, and where the rich have spoilt +things, the only rule I know is to plunge and take the dearest—which +is the Hotel des Princes—if you will not do that you +must choose for yourself.</p> + +<p>The next valley, that of the Gave de Pau, has in it +four towns, Lourdes, Argelès, Cauterets, and Luz. Lourdes, +like all cosmopolitan towns, is detestable in its accommodation, +and to make it the more detestable there is that +admixture of the supernatural which is invariably accompanied +by detestable earthly adjuncts. Were it not so the +world would be perfect: but it is so, and honestly one cannot +say that any one hotel at Lourdes is better than another, +only here again if one is compelled to stop for a night, one +cannot do better than the best which is nominally the Angleterre. +Avoid the hotels that have Holy names to them, they +are usually frauds. If you go to Lourdes as a pilgrim, prefer +the religious houses (which take in travellers). If the Angleterre +is too dear for you, the Hotel de Toulouse is not to be despised; +it should take you in at 25 to 35 francs a day. Argelès,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span> +up the valley, is a very different place, it is a little hurt by +the neighbourhood of Lourdes, and by the stream of travellers +who pour up and down its main road to Cauterets and to the +sights of Gavarnie. Nevertheless it remains a French country +town, and the fairly dignified capital of a district. The Hotel +de France is excellent and, by the way (a thing always to be +mentioned when one is speaking of hotels in the Pyrenees), +it is ready at any time to furnish horses, and has, of course, +a garage. At Luz stand two hotels facing each other on either +side of the road, I cannot remember the names, or rather I +cannot remember which is which, but anyhow take the one +on the right of the road as you look up the valley, or as you +come up from the station, that is, the one upon the western +side. They are polite, and that makes all the difference +in one’s relations with people whom one does not often +meet.</p> + +<p>Gavarnie, overrun as it is (and it is hideously overrun), has +a very tolerable hotel, clean, and not too dear. The reason +is that the people who come to the place usually go away on +the same day, and that therefore there is some anxiety to +please those who stop. Another inn, up under the mountain, +is not so much to be recommended. Of Cauterets everything +can be said—and much more—that was said of Eaux Bonnes, +you are at the mercy of a place which the rich choose to have +ruined, and apart from their vulgarity you will have that noise +which accompanies them in all their doings, this sort of place +in the Pyrenees is luckily not common, and when it is tolerable +is tolerable in proportion as it is national. Cauterets is +almost as international as Lourdes, and for anyone using the +Pyrenees as I use them in this book, it would be madness to +stop there. Bagnères-de-Bigorre is better, though it is something +in the same line. It is better because it has something +of a past and a history, and is, like Argelès, the chief town of +its district. The Hotel de Paris is the best, but it is very +expensive, and I believe, though I do not know, that the +Hotel des Vignes in the Rue de Tarbes is good among the +moderate places. But the rule holds here, as everywhere, +that where rich people, especially cosmopolitans, colonials,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span> +nomads, and the rest, come into a little place, they destroy +most things except the things that they themselves desire. +And the things that they themselves desire are execrable to +the rest of mankind.</p> + +<p>Arreau, in the next valley, merits a more particular attention. +It is thoroughly French, and here you will find side by +side with the expensive places (for even Arreau has its Hotel +d’Angleterre which, however, to tell the truth, is not ruinous) a +most delightful little place called the Hotel du Midi, where +sensible people go. I am speaking on the testimony of others, +but on good testimony. It is a place smelt out by the infallible +nose of the French professional class. It has a garage, +and will tell you where to get carriages, though I believe it +has nothing but an omnibus of its own. It is—or was—really +cheap and good. But for some odd reason this +excellent house charges you extra for your coffee.</p> + +<p>Right high up this valley is Vielle where there is one hotel, +the Hotel Mendielle, this is the one you must ask for if you +find yourself caught here, and it is just the place at which one +might be caught if one got into the wrong valley from a col +in the Sobrarbe, or, if, in coming up the Gave, one had not +made way enough by night; I know nothing for or against +this hotel, and I believe it to be the only one. The little +village of Aragnouet, which is at the very end of the road +under the last precipices, has an inn of the quality of which I +know nothing.</p> + +<p>The next valley is that of Bagnères-de-Luchon. Now it +might be imagined, seeing what rich places are in the way of +hotels, that Bagnères-de-Luchon (being by far the richest +place in the Pyrenees) would be hopelessly the worst, and that, +as nothing good could be said about Cauterets, and as there +was precious little choice in Eaux Bonnes, Luchon would be +a place to despair of in the matter of hotels, but on the contrary +it is a place to discuss.</p> + +<p>Even if Luchon were as detestable as the Riviera, one would +have to come to it because it is the knot and reservoir of all +mountain travel. The valley strikes so deep into the hills, +brings the railway so near their summits, and is so exactly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span> +situated at the “fault” spoken of so frequently in this book +(the break in the Pyrenean line where the landscapes and +peoples of the chain meet) that it is difficult not to pass +through Luchon at one time or another during any length of +days passed in these hills. Even if you make a vow to clear +Luchon, you may find yourself caught in any one of twenty +surrounding barbarisms with a bad foot or no money, and +compelled to set a course for this harbour. Moreover Luchon +is by no means the vulgar place its riches ought to make it. +The fashion for it was first made by reasonable people, many +Spaniards come and help to give the place its tone, and perhaps +the very extremity of evil corrects itself, and Luchon, +being so crammed with wealthy people, knows its own vices +better than places just a little less rich, and it is therefore more +tolerable. At any rate the problem of sleeping at Luchon is +easily solved in July and August because all prices are pretty +much the same, and you cannot depend upon the printed prices +at all. For pension it is otherwise. There are fixed prices +and they are not exorbitant for such a place. A very clean, +decent, rich hotel is the Hotel d’Angleterre, where, if you stop +some days, they will charge you, I believe, about 40 francs a +day. There is a place for poorer people called the Hotel de +l’Europe; all its prices are cheaper, but it has this drawback +that you get nothing national. It is clean and there is a roof +over your head, but you get neither French comfort nor French +discomfort, and you are paying a little less for things a great +deal worse, notably in the matter of food. The bold who fear +nothing will go and stop at the village little inn called the +Golden Lion, which is near the old church and existed before +wealthy Luchon was born or thought of. Here the bold will +consort with Muleteers and the populace in some discomfort. +One of the best uses to which one can put Luchon is to eat in +it, and for sleeping to go outside and camp in the woods: +and the best place for the passer-by to eat is the Café Arnative +on the main street; its cooking is very good indeed, and the +wine really remarkable; it is such good wine that one wonders +why they give it away, and every year as one returns to the +place one fears it may have ceased, but it continues. Speak<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span> +to the manager in English for he knows and loves that tongue, +or in Spanish or in French. In the use of the hotels and +restaurants of Luchon, however—always excepting the Golden +Lion—remember that they are snobbish about clothes, and +that even two days in the hills puts you well below the +standard which they can tolerate. I confess that when I +have had to use Luchon, I have depended upon clothes which +were waiting for me at the station; and it is not difficult to +use Luchon as a sort of half-way house in this matter, leading +the right life in the western mountains, coming down to +Luchon to find one’s luggage, dressing up, plunging into +worldly pleasure at Luchon, sending one’s luggage off again +to Ax or Perpignan, and then taking to the eastern +hills for another bout of poverty.</p> + +<p>In the Val d’Aran, next to the valley of Luchon, there +is but one place where one is likely to stay, and that is in the +town of Viella, which is the capital; for the Val d’Aran is a +small place, and there is no advantage in stopping anywhere +else. The Posada Deo is that which I know best and is good +but of course Spanish; the cooking is a sort of mixture of +Spanish and French, but the time you have to wait for it and +in the manner in which it is given you is wholly Spanish. The +wine also (oddly enough!) is Spanish. It ought, on the +Garonne, to be of the Garonne, but the customs interfere.</p> + +<p>The Catalan valley, south and east of the Val d’Aran, the +valley of Esterri, has, in that town, a good little hotel, the +Hotel Pepe. The people are thoroughly Catalan in their +love of money and therefore you must bargain. Whatever +you do, do not stop at any of the other places in the valley, +it is even better to go through a storm than to risk Llavorsi, +or worse still Escaló, but on the far side of the hill and of the +port called St. John of the Elms there is a most delicious inn, +with an old innkeeper of the very best, at Castellbo.</p> + +<p>To return to the French side; if you go by train to St. +Girons you may likely enough change at Boussens, the station +has not (or had not) any buffet, but there was (and I hope is) +an hotel opposite it where people travelling by train ate; +the cooking here is the best in the whole of the Pyrenees, which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span> +is saying a good deal. At St. Girons itself there is not only +good cooking, but the wine which Arthur Young admired, and +which was well worthy of his admiration. Do not go to the +best hotel (which is the hotel of the Princes and of the Alpine +Club), but to the next cheapest which is called the Hotel de +France; at least I have found this last to be excellent and +cheaper for its quality of food and drink and repose than any +other in all this chain. These things change quickly, what was +true so short a time ago may not be true now; but so, at least, +I found it.</p> + +<p>In the valley of the Ariège it is always well to make Ax your +sleeping-place, for Ax, though there are waters and though +the baths make the prosperity of the place, is a very pleasant +little town and the right beginning for the mountains, whether +you are going by the main road into the Roussillon, or up the +Ariège in the Carlitte group, or again over the main range into +Andorra. At Ax there are two rival hotels, the Hotel de +France, and the Hotel Sicre. The latter is a little cheaper +though both are cheap, and while I know the second one best +I should recommend the first; it will take you in as cheaply +as any, and seems the more carefully kept; both have +garages. The Hotel Sicre suffers somewhat from being +directly attached to its Thermal Baths. If you are going to +explore the wild country of the Upper Aston, you must start +from Cabanes lower down on the railway. There is no need +to sleep there. The valley above it has some of the best +camping places in the Pyrenees. But it is worth knowing the +name of the hotel, which is “Du Midi.” The whole place +is, of course, quite small and cheap.</p> + +<p>On the high road into Roussillon choose Porté, primitive as +it is, and avoid <i>Hospitalet</i> (on the hither side of the pass of +Puymorens) like the plague. Hospitalet and the village just +before it, Merens, are for some reason or other quite spoilt; +I fancy tourists come up so far as these two without going +over the pass which they find too much trouble, and that their +coming and going has spoilt the two places: at any rate they +are detestable. They overcharge you and treat you with +contempt at the same time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span></p> + +<p>Porté, though it is but a few miles further on, is quite different. +Here is one rude inn, as cheap as the grace of God, and +kept by the most honest people in the world; Michet by name. +It is thoroughly Spanish in character (for remember that +Porté, though politically in France, is on the Spanish side +of the main range, and that the pass just above is on the watershed); +the animals live on the ground floor, the human beings +just above them. You will never regret to have slept at +Porté.</p> + +<p>As you go on into the plain of the Cerdagne you will find a +good inn at La Tour Carol: not exactly enthusiastic in their +greeting of the traveller, but polite. It is quite a little place +of only half a thousand inhabitants, and you cannot expect +much from it, but it is better than Saillagousse where they +are most unwilling.</p> + +<p>Up the road to France from Saillagousse, at Mont Louis, is +a hotel of which I can speak but little because my own experience +of it was late on a holiday night when everything was +very full, but it is substantial, it is cheap and I have heard it +praised. It is called the Hotel de France, and it is a starting-point +for the omnibus down to the rail-head at Villefranche in +the valley above which rise the flanks of the Canigou.</p> + +<p>On the Canigou itself, standing upon a platform a few hundred +feet below the summit facing the Mediterranean and one of +the greatest views in this world, there is now an inn which you +must not despise though it does happen to be somewhat +tourist. It is only open for the end of June, July, August, and +September, though one can sleep there at other times of the +year if one asks at Prades for the housekeeper; he comes down +to that town through the winter and is known there.</p> + +<p>In Perpignan (by the way) go to the chief hotel, for +the hotels of that plain can be very vile when they try. This +hotel is called “The Grand” and it stands on the quay of the +smaller river just within the old fortifications. There is a +delightful little restaurant in Perpignan called the Golden +Lion, it is well to order what one wants some hours beforehand, +and to take their own recommendation about wine. Perpignan +is so twirled and knotted a town that I can give no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span> +directions for finding that Golden Lion, where it lies in its +little back alley called the Rue des Cardeurs, save to tell you +that it is but 200 yards from your hotel, and that the Rue des +Cardeurs is the second on the <i>left</i> as you walk away from the +main front of the cathedral; or again, the <i>first</i> on the left +after you have crossed the Place Gambetta. Anyhow, Perpignan +is a small place and anyone will show you where this +eating-house is, and it is a good one. Down the Cerdagne +in Spain, at Seo de Urgel, there are two or three hotels, and +one of the second class called the Posada Universal or +Universal Inn which merits its name; you will do well to +stop there for it has a pleasant balcony overlooking the valley, +with vines trained about it; and the people look after you.</p> + +<p>As to the inns of Andorra your best plan is to stop in the +capital, that is, in <i>Andorra The Old</i> itself, where the Posada is +called the Posada <i>Calounes</i>, and is quite a little and simple +place. The entry into Andorra, however, is not always easy. +If you make it from the north, mist may delay you, even on +the grassy Embalire Pass, and may keep you for hours on the +higher crossings of the range, even when it does not defeat +you altogether. You may therefore have no choice but to +stop at one of the little villages; but it is a poor fate, for they +are full of bugs and fleas and appalling cooking, though the +people are kindly enough. The inn at Encamps is the only +one with which I am myself acquainted among these smaller +places; there also it is vile.</p> + +<p>I have omitted so far to speak of the inns in the Sobrarbe. +That of Venasque is the largest and most used to travellers. +Like all Spanish inns the life of the people is upstairs and the +life of the animals below. It is clean and seems to be continually +full of people, for there is quite a traffic to and from this +mountain town. The inn has no name in particular that I +know of, but you cannot miss it. Guide books call it “Des +Touristes,” but I never heard anyone in Venasque give it that +name. You have but to ask for the Posada, however, and +anyone will show it you. It is in the first street on the left +out of the main street as you come into the town. As to the +cost of it, it is neither cheap nor dear; but (as I have said is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span> +common to the Spanish inns) it is a little on the side of dearness. +A friend of mine with three companions and two +mules found himself let in for over £3 for one night’s hospitality; +on the other hand, I myself, some years after, with two +companions, passed two nights and the day between with +everything that we wanted to eat, smoke, and drink, and we +came out for under £2. The mules perhaps consume.</p> + +<p>In all Sobrarbe there are but the inns of Bielsa and Torla +(I mean in all the upper valleys which I have described) +that can be approached without fear, and in Bielsa, as in +Venasque and in Torla, the little place has but one. At +Bielsa it is near the bridge and is kept by Pedro Perlos; I +have not slept in it but I believe it to be clean and good. El +Plan has a Posada called the Posada of the Sun (<i>del Sol</i>), but +it is not praised; nay, it is detested by those who speak from +experience. The inn that stands or stood at the lower part +of the Val d’Arazas is said to be good; that at Torla is not +so much an inn as an old chief’s house or manor called that of +“Viu,” for that is the name of the family that owns it. They +treat travellers very well.</p> + +<p>This is all that I know of the inns of the Pyrenees.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="VIII">VIII<br> +<span class="smaller">THE APPROACHES TO THE PYRENEES</span></h2> + +</div> + +<p>A traveller from England, on considering his +approach to the Pyrenees, must first appreciate the +road heads or starting-places whence his travels to the +Pyrenees may be made, and it is convenient to regard that one +to which access can be had by rail. These points are eleven +in number—St. Jean Pied-de-Port, Mauléon, Oloron, Laruns, +Argelès, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Arreau, Bagnères-de-Luchon, +St. Girons, Foix, and Villefranche, which last is the highest +point to which the rail will take one from Perpignan.</p> + +<p>One can get nearer the main range by light railways in +certain places. Thus from Mauléon a steam tramway will +take one some miles nearer the hills, to Tardets. From +Lourdes the train goes up the valley several miles, and light +railways go to Cauterets and Luz, and from Foix there is a +considerable reach of rail, as far as Ax-les-Thermes, all up +the valley of the Ariège, from which lateral valleys on every +side enter the high mountains. Nevertheless, if one knows +how to approach these eleven stations, and something of the +hours of arriving at them, the slight extensions in the three +cases named can easily be looked up, and there is no need +to burden these pages with them.</p> + +<p>Of these eleven, the first four, St. Jean Pied-de-Port, +Mauléon, Oloron, and Laruns, belong to the western section +of the range, and are approached from Bordeaux. Another +four, Arreau, Bagnères-de-Luchon, St. Girons, and Foix belong +to the central and eastern section of the range, and are +approached by way of Toulouse, while the two intermediate +ones, Lourdes (and its extension up the valley) and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, +may, according to the convenience of trains, be +approached with equal facility from either direction.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span></p> + +<p>There remains Villefranche, the chief station under the +Canigou, and the centre for the extreme eastern end of the +range. The approach to this short and distant part of the +Pyrenees is through Perpignan.</p> + +<p>By whichever road one approaches the Pyrenees, and from +whatever town at their base one proposes to make the ascent +of them, one leaves Paris by the Orleans line, choosing for +preference the great new station on the Quai-d’Orsay, though +if one is driving across Paris with no time to spare, it is better +to catch the train at the Austerlitz station a mile or two +further down the line where all the expresses stop, as the +departure from that station is ten minutes later than from +the Quai-d’Orsay. But the Austerlitz station is old-fashioned; +all the conveniences of travel are gathered at the +more recent terminus, and if one has any time to spare it is +always from the Quai-d’Orsay that one should start.</p> + +<p>Arrived whether at Bordeaux or at Toulouse, one changes +from the Orleans system to the Midi. This is not an absolutely +accurate way of putting it, because, as a fact, the Orleans +only enjoys running powers to Toulouse, along the main +express line, but this is roughly the best way of putting it to +make the reader understand the way in which the systems +join.</p> + +<p>With these connexions, the first journey is made to +Bordeaux, to Toulouse (or, in the exceptional case of the +extreme east end of the Pyrenees, to Perpignan), and the +journey forward from each of these towns is calculated upon +another time table, and is often taken on a different train.</p> + +<p>To reach St. Jean, one goes on from Bordeaux to Bayonne +and changes there. To reach Mauléon, one goes on from Bordeaux +to Puyoo and changes there; to reach Oloron or +Laruns, one goes on from Bordeaux to Pau and changes +there.</p> + +<p>Roughly speaking, those who want to take the journey +easily, without night travel, will find it necessary to sleep in +Paris, to sleep again at Bordeaux (or somewhere further down +the line, as at Bayonne or at Pau) and only on the third day +to proceed to the towns from which they will begin to climb,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span> +whether that town be St. Jean, Mauléon, Oloron, or Laruns. +For this purpose they must take the morning train which +leaves Paris (Quai-d’Orsay) at an hour which changes but +approximates eight to half-past, and gets to Bordeaux well +before dinner. It is then possible to go on the same evening +to Bayonne, and, if one goes first class, to get on the same night +also to Puyoo or to Pau, but in all cases arrival at the foot of +the mountains will not be possible until the next morning.</p> + +<p>Those who are content to suffer night travel will find an +excellent and convenient train leaving Paris in the evening, +reaching Bordeaux in the early morning, and putting them +at any one of the mountain towns at, or a little after, noon. +Thus, a person leaving London upon Saturday morning, will, +if he travels only by day, reach any one of the western +approaches to the Pyrenees on the mid-day of Monday, but +if he will consent to a journey by night, he will save exactly +twenty-four hours and arrive at noon (or in the early afternoon) +of Sunday. The gain of twenty-four hours, by an +apparent sacrifice of only twelve, is due to the nature of the +connexions between the small mountain lines and the main +lines. His return tickets, going in the cheapest manner, +second class from London to the mountains and back will +vary according to the mountain town chosen, from a little +under £10 to £12, of which the French second class return +fare from Paris is about or a little over £4 and the rest second +return London to Paris and incidental expenses.</p> + +<p>The approach to the intermediary towns of Lourdes and +Bagnères-de-Bigorre, is of the same sort and is usually better +done through Bordeaux than through Toulouse, but one gets +in a little later. Unless one takes the early night train from +Paris just after eight one does not reach Lourdes until the +late afternoon, nor Bagnères-de-Bigorre until night.</p> + +<p>The approach through Toulouse involves a longer train +journey, and is made both by a night and a day train, as in the +case of Bordeaux, and from the same station as I have said +above. You can lunch on the day train, but you cannot +dine upon it. Sleeping at Toulouse, one goes on next day by a +morning train, starting a little after nine, and going through<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span> +Tarbes, will get to Lourdes at about half-past one, or to Bagnères-de-Bigorre +a few minutes earlier. Similarly, starting +from Toulouse by the same morning train, one can get to +Bagnères-de-Luchon just after noon, or to St. Girons at a +little before one. It will be seen that these arrivals towards +the centre of the chain are much at the same time as by the +western approaches through Bordeaux. One gets in towards +the middle of the third day in either case.</p> + +<p>Moreover, going through Toulouse resembles the journey +through Bordeaux; if one undertakes to travel by night, +one saves time in much the same manner, save that the night +train is earlier. One must leave Paris about half-past eight +in the evening, reach Toulouse at much the same hour the +next morning, and one will find oneself at the foot of the +Pyrenees about mid-day of the day after leaving London, +changing at Toulouse for the morning train to Lourdes, +Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Luchon, St. Girons or Foix, respectively. +There is, however, an exception to this apparently general +rule that the shortest journey to the Pyrenees, even if one +travels by night, must take well over the twenty-four +hours.</p> + +<p>As to the approach from Perpignan, this is useful for that +little corner of the range which overlooks the Roussillon which +is less than one-tenth of the total length. Only one important +height is to be found here, the Canigou. The railway journey +is very long. If one goes by day, it is imperative that one +should break it somewhere. It would be more accurate to +say that one can make it by day only if one breaks it somewhere, +and if one makes it by night, one must leave Paris in +the evening in order to get to Perpignan for lunch, or at half-past +eight to get in at two. It is no way to approach the +Pyrenees, unless one happens to be taking a journey down +France for other purposes which will lead him towards the +districts of Narbonne and Perpignan. It must be noted that +since the war there is an excellent cross-country train from +Bordeaux and Toulouse to Narbonne, where change for +Perpignan.</p> + +<p>No other approach to the Pyrenees save these by railway<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span> +from the north will be of use to most travellers from +England.</p> + +<p>The new, good and fast day train from Toulouse is now +at eleven in the morning.</p> + +<p>The approaches from the south, in the rare case of a traveller +who may take the Pyrenees on the way back from Spain, are +all difficult with the exception of the line from Saragossa to +Jaca. A main line leads of course from the capital to Saragossa, +there one must cross the Ebro to the station upon the +northern bank. The train to Jaca goes by Huesca and it +takes all day, but it is worth doing in order to get within a +day’s walk of the main range.</p> + +<p>From every other centre, except from Pamplona, the +Pyrenees are hopelessly distant. Seo and the Catalan valleys +depend upon Barbastro as does the valley of the Cinca in +Aragon, but it is a most tedious journey in stuffy omnibuses +followed by an equally tedious day and a half or two days upon +a mule before you find yourself in the high Pyrenees. Pamplona +is, roughly speaking, one day’s walk from the heart of +the mountains, and no other town, excepting Jaca, upon the +railway on the Spanish side is worth considering as a rail-head.</p> + +<p>It should be noted that there is during the summer months +a motor car service between Pamplona and Jaca, which goes +along the valley of the Aragon and covers the distance in the +better part of a day.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> + +</div> + +<ul> + +<li class="ifrst">A</li> + +<li class="indx">Accous or Bédous, plain of, <a href="#Page_159">159-160</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Agra, river, mentioned, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">valley of, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aiguestoites, Port de, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Albigenses, crusade against, its meaning and results, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alfonso el Batallador, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Alpargatas">Alpargatas, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Alps, contrasted with Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_25">25-26</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Andorra, history and character of, <a href="#Page_192">192-193</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— forms with Catalan valleys a district of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_187">187-198</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— how reached from Ariège, <a href="#Page_187">187-193</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— posada of, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Anicle, Col d’, <a href="#Page_171">171-172</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Anie, Pic d’, its position on first axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— boundary of the Basques, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aphours, brook of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aragnouet, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aragon, river, mentioned, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— valley of, easy connexion of, with valley of Gallego, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">described, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— kingdom, named after river, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">and Béarn, their position on the range, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aran, Val d’, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Val">Val</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Arazas, valley of, <a href="#Page_169">169-170</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Inn there, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ariège, sources of, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— valley of, position of on axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">forms old county of Foix, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">in connexion with that of the Tet, <a href="#Page_204">204-209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ariel, Pic d’, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Arles, on Tech, <a href="#Page_213">213-214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Arras, Col d’, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Arreau, hotels at, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Arrouye, Pic d’, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aspe, Val d’, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Aston, upper, adventure of author upon, <a href="#Page_108">108-112</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— river, advantages of district of, <a href="#Page_187">187-188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ax, way from, to valley of Tet, <a href="#Page_206">206-208</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">hotels and baths of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">B</li> + +<li class="indx">Bagnères-de-Bigorre, hotels at, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">de Luchon, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Luchon">Luchon</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Baigorry, valley of, <a href="#Page_145">145-146</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Balatag, wood of, on Canigou, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bambilette, port, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bargebit, Pic de, on Canigou, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Barrosa, stream of, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Barroude, pass of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Basque, place names found throughout Spain and Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_38">38-39</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Valleys, a district of the Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_145">145-154</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Basques, their position on the range, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Pic d’Anie, boundary, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— no Roman record of, <a href="#Page_45">45-46</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bathing, dangerous when fatigued, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Batallador, surname of Alfonso, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bayonne, road from, to Pamplona described, <a href="#Page_96">96-99</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span>Béarn and Aragon, their position on the range, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Béarn, Roman name of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">with Navarre and Roussillon, last exceptions to French sovereignty north of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bédous, Hotel de la Poste at, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bédous, hotel of, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— or Accous, plan of, <a href="#Page_159">159-160</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Belhay, Port de, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Belver, head of Urgel road, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Benarnensium Civitas</i>, modern Béarn, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bicycling in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_104">104-105</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bielsa, Port de, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— second stage in way from Panticosa to Venasque, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">described, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">inn of, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Biescas, mentioned as example of a town in a Spanish valley, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bigerriones, original name of inhabitants of Bigorre, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bigorre, originally land of “Bigerriones,” <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Pic du Midi de, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Pic">Pic</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Blankets, <a href="#Page_122">122-123</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Boella, Col de, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bonaigo, Pass of, nature of, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bota, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Gourd">Gourd</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Boucacers, Col de, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Boucharo, French name for Bujaruelo, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Boussens, amazing cooking at, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bread, proper rations of, <a href="#Page_125">125-126</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Brèche de Roland, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Bujaruelo (Boucharo) in Sobrarbe, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Burguete, hotel at, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">C</li> + +<li class="indx">Cabanes, use of, as shelter, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— village and station of, starting-point for passes of Peyregrils and Fontargente, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cabillere, Pic de, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cacouette, gorge of, alluded to, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cadi, Sierra del, mentioned, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">aspect from St. Croz, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">aspect of, from Cerdagne, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cady, brook of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cambret, brook of, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Camphor, sovereign against bugs, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Camping, rules for, <a href="#Page_128">128-133</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Canal Roya, example of difficulty of finding a col, <a href="#Page_110">110-113</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— valley of, and col, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— entrance to, <a href="#Page_161">161-162</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Canfranc, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">poor hotel of, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Canigou, hotel near summit of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">district of, <a href="#Page_210">210-216</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">peaks of, ways up to, <a href="#Page_211">211-215</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Canillo, village of, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Carlitte, group of mountains, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Casteil, hamlet on way up Canigou, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Castellbo, first stage in way from Urgel to Esterri, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">delicious inn of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Catalans, their position on the range, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Catalonia, origins of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cauterets, hotels of, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cerberus, Cape, eastern limit of second axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cerdagne, political anomaly of, <a href="#Page_57">57-58</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">described, <a href="#Page_199">199-203</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">why annexed by Mazarin, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Chaitza, stream of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Christians, reconquest of Spanish slope by, <a href="#Page_50">50-54</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cinca, valley of, with Broto and Esera make up Sobrarbe, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cinqueta, affluent of the Cinca, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cirere, Col de, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Climate of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_33">33-35</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coidenes, bridge of, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Col, or pass, <i>see</i> under particular names</li> + +<li class="indx">Comminges, modern name of district of Convenæ, <a href="#Page_43">43-45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Compass, variation of, in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">necessary in equipment, <a href="#Page_127">127-128</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Consevanni, modern Conserans, <a href="#Page_44">44-45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Conserans, Roman “Consevanni,” <a href="#Page_44">44-45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Convenæ, <a href="#Page_43">43-44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Coumette, Pic de la, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Cruz, Col de la, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span>Cuberre, bridge of, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">D</li> + +<li class="indx">Dalmanya, torrent of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">village of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Dastan, Val, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Distance, best reckoned in mountains by time, <a href="#Page_76">76-78</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Double Col,” most dangerous example of ambiguity in a pass, <a href="#Page_137">137-140</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Driving in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">E</li> + +<li class="indx">Eaux Bonnes, chief hotel of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Chaudes, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— hotel of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elizondo, <a href="#Page_147">147-148</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— hotels of, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><i>Elloronensium Civitas</i>, modern Oloron, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Elne, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="indx">El Plan, posada of, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Embalire, pass of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">easiest entry into Andorra, <a href="#Page_191">191-193</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Encamps, village of, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">inn of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Equipment, description of necessary, <a href="#Page_115">115-124</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Erro, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— inn at, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Escaló, village of, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Escolier, Pic d’, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Escuain, Col de, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Espousouille, hamlet of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Esterri, hotel of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— mentioned as example of a town in a Spanish valley, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">described, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">way to, from Urge, <a href="#Page_194">194-198</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Europe, grouping of peoples unchanged in, during recorded history, <a href="#Page_1">1-2</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">F</li> + +<li class="indx">Fillols, on way up Canigou from Villefranche, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Foix, county of, identical with valley of Ariège, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Fontargente, tarn of, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— pass of, into Andorra, <a href="#Page_190">190-191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Forata, Peña, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Formiguères, village of, on way from Ax to Tet valley, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li class="indx">French measurements, English equivalents, <a href="#Page_74">74-77</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— slope of Pyrenees, formation of, <a href="#Page_10">10-12</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">names and character of valleys on, <a href="#Page_10">10-15</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">multiplicity of roads on, <a href="#Page_79">79-82</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Frontier, political, its present connexion with watershed, <a href="#Page_54">54-58</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">G</li> + +<li class="indx">Gabas, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— excellent hotel of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gabediou, Pic de, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Galbe, stream of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gallego, valley of, position of, on axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— valley of, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— valley of, easy connexion of, with valley of Aragon, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gari, valley of, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Garonne, curious source of, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gas, Pic du Col de, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gascon, name of, supposed to be Basque, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gaulis, Col de, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gavarnie, example of a high-valley village, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">town of, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Port de, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Cirque de, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gerbats, Pic de, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gistain, Col de, <a href="#Page_175">175-176</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Glacé, lake, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Glaciers, absence of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Gnoles, torrent of, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Gourd">Gourd, or bota, description of, <a href="#Page_117">117-120</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">H</li> + +<li class="indx">Hayra, forest of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Heas, stream and village of, <a href="#Page_181">181-182</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span>Heights and distances, French, way of turning into English feet and miles, <a href="#Page_74">74-77</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Helena, original name of Elne, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Henry IV and Mazarin complete French sovereignty north of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hix, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Hospitalet, of Ariège, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">of Luchon, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Huesca, Sancho’s attempt on, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">road to, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">I</li> + +<li class="indx">Illiberis, old name for Elne, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Inns, of the Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_217">217-233</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Spanish and French, contrasted, <a href="#Page_218">218-233</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Iraty, Spanish valley, head-waters in France, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Isaba, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ispeguy, pass of, between Baigorry and Baztan, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">J</li> + +<li class="indx">Jaca, mentioned as example of town in Spanish valley, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">one of three mountain bishoprics on Spanish slope, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">counted as French during Mahommedan occupation, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">early independence of, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">excellent hotel of, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Jasses,” nature of these flats, <a href="#Page_15">15-16</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Jeous,” local name, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">K</li> + +<li class="indx">Kilometre, estimate of, by time, <a href="#Page_141">141-142</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Knapsack, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Pack">Pack</a>”</li> + +<li class="ifrst">L</li> + +<li class="indx">Labourd, valley of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lakes, character of, in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">of Maladetta, Encantados, etc., <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lakes of the Carlitte, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lamoux, lake of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Larrasoaña, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Larrau, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Laruns, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">hotel of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li class="indx">La Tour Carol, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">inn of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Laurhibar, village of, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">stream and village of, <a href="#Page_149">149-150</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lecumberry, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Le Tech, hamlet of, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">L’Homme, Pic de, western limit of second axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Licq, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Llavorsi, village of, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Llivia, <a href="#Page_200">200-201</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lourdes, hotels of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Luchon">Luchon, valley of, with valleys of Tarbes, makes separate district in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_179">179-186</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— hot springs of, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— way to Venasque from, by Port d’Oo, <a href="#Page_185">185-186</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— valley and district of, <a href="#Page_182">182-186</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">road to, from Val d’Aran, <a href="#Page_197">197-198</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">wealth and hotels of, <a href="#Page_228">228-229</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Lys, valley of, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">M</li> + +<li class="indx">Magdalena, river of, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maggi, provision of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">method of using, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maladetta, view of, from Port de Venasque, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Maps, for the range, <a href="#Page_59">59-78</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Marignac, forest of, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mauléon, capital of the Soule, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mazarin annexes Roussillon to France, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— annexes Cerdagne, <a href="#Page_56">56-58</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mediterranean, civilization of, in connexion with Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_42">42-43</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Merens, example of a high-valley village, <a href="#Page_17">17-18</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Metres and kilometres, way of reducing to feet and miles, <a href="#Page_74">74-76</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Midi, Pic du, d’Ossau, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">de Bigorre, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span>Moines, Col des, <a href="#Page_157">157-161</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mollo, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Prats">Prats</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Monsech, Sierra of, distance of, from main range, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mont Louis, pass of, mentioned, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">hotel of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Motoring in Pyrenees, by the “lower road,” <a href="#Page_84">84-87</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">by the “upper road,” <a href="#Page_86">86-93</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">across the range, <a href="#Page_93">93-99</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">from Pamplona to Jaca, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">to Saragossa, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Mountain">Mountain, ranges of, often regarded too simply, <a href="#Page_2">2-3</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Mules, not always obtainable in inns, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">N</li> + +<li class="indx">Names, fantastic, of Pyrenees mountains, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Napoleon III, makes Somport road from Urdos, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Navarre with Béarn and Roussillon, the last exceptions to French sovereignty north of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Navas de Tolosa, battle of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Nive, French river, rises in Spain, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Noguera Pallaresa, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Noguille, lake of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Novempopulania, Roman district north of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_41">41-45</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">O</li> + +<li class="indx">Olette, town of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oloron, Roman name of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">main road from, to Saragossa, described, <a href="#Page_93">93-96</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">hotels at, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oo, Port d’, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ordino, town of, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Orgeix, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oriège, valley of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Orleu, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Oroel, Peña d’, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ossau, Val d’, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Pic du Midi de, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Pic">Pic</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Otxogorrigagne, Mount, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Ourdayte">Ourdayte, or “Urdayte,” Port d’, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ourdissettou, Pic d’, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">P</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Pack">Pack, type of, in equipment, <a href="#Page_121">121-122</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pallars, name of Esterri valley, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pamplona, Roman bishopric on Spanish slope, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">road to, from Bayonne described, <a href="#Page_96">96-99</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">hotels of, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pannikin, description of, <a href="#Page_115">115-116</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Panticosa, way to Venasque from, through Sobrarbe, <a href="#Page_167">167-178</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">numerous hotels of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Passes over Pyrenees, nature of, <a href="#Page_27">27-32</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Path, importance of faint indications, so called, in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_113">113-115</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pau, Gave de, valley of, position of, on axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pelayo, heads the Reconquista, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Peña, Sierra de la, mentioned, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Perpignan, hotel and restaurant of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Peyregrils, pass of, into Andorra, <a href="#Page_188">188-190</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Pic">Pic du Midi d’Ossau, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">approach from Gabas, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— de Bigorre, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pinède, cliffs of, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pique, river of, in Luchon valley, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pla de Guillem, pass of, in Canigou, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Place names, Basque, in Spain and Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_38">38-39</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Plan, El, village of, <a href="#Page_177">177-178</a></li> + +<li class="indx">“Plans,” larger form of Jasses, <a href="#Page_15">15-16</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Port Vendres, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Portaillet, Col of, on shoulder of Canigou, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Porte Blanche, pass of, into Andorra, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Porté, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">inn of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Porteille, notch between county of Foix and Roussillon, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span>“Ports,” or passes, over Pyrenees, nature of, <a href="#Page_26">26-30</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Posets, Pic de, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pourtalet, pass of, mentioned, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">modern road over, <a href="#Page_163">163-164</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Prades, town of, way up Canigou from, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Prats">Prats de Mollo, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Puigcerdá, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Puigdarbet, peak of, on Canigou, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Puillouse, marsh of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Puymorens, Col de, limit of the Catalans, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— pass of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Py, on Canigou, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Pyrenees, physical nature of, <a href="#Page_1">1-35</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">double axis of, <a href="#Page_3">3-8</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">length of chain, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">original formation of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">contrast of northern and southern slope of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">climate of, <a href="#Page_33">33-35</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">political character of, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, etc.;</li> +<li class="isub1">form the bastion against Islam, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Treaty of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">Q</li> + +<li class="indx">Quazémi peak of, on Canigou, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">R</li> + +<li class="indx">Railways, start far from main range on Spanish side, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rain, distribution of, in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_33">33-35</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ranges, mountain, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Mountain">Mountain</a>”;</li> +<li class="isub1">secondary, perpendicular to main range on northern, parallel to it on southern slope, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Reconquista, <a href="#Page_50">50-54</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rialb, stream of, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rivers, shape of their course on Spanish slope, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roman advance on Spanish slope, <a href="#Page_45">45-47</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Romans, make watershed of Pyrenees a boundary, <a href="#Page_40">40-41</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">their advance north of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_41">41-45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roncesvalles, pass of, mentioned, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">high road through, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">road to, from Pamplona, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roque Couloum, mountain, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roscino, gives name to Roussillon, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Rou, tarn of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Roussillon, formed round valley of Tet, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">with Navarre and Béarn, last exception to French sovereignty north of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">S</li> + +<li class="indx">Sabouredo, Pic de, eastern limits of first axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sahun, Col de, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saillagousse, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">a place to avoid, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Bertrand de Comminges, origin of, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Croz, village of, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Duillem, huts of, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Ste. Engrace, <a href="#Page_151">151-153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Port de, position of, on axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">passage of, <a href="#Page_152">152-153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— inn at, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Etienne, in Baigorry, <a href="#Page_146">146-147</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Girons, hotel of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Jean le Vieux, site of Roman town, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Jean Pied de Port, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">road from, to Soule, <a href="#Page_148">148-151</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">hotels at, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Jerome, his story of Convenæ, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. John, Port of, <a href="#Page_195">195-196</a></li> + +<li class="indx">St. Lizier, originally Glycerius, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Salau, pass of, distance of, from plains, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Port of, mentioned, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saldeu, pass and hamlet of, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Salinas de Sin, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sallent, way to, from, Urdos, <a href="#Page_161">161-163</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sallent, character of inn of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Port Vieux de, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Salpichon, value of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sancho, killed before Huesca, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span>Sandales, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Alpargatas">Alpargatas</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Sarabillo, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Saragossa, the main road over Pyrenees to, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sauvegarde, Pic de, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Schrader, his map of central Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73-74</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Secondary ranges, perpendicular to main range on northern side, parallel to it on the southern, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sentina, torrent of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Serrat, village of, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Snow, perennial, absence of in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sobrarbe, name of Eastern Aragon, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">district in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_167">167-178</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Socks, folly of wearing, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Somport, pass so called, position of, on axis of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">nature of, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">main road over, from Oloron to Saragossa, described, <a href="#Page_92">92-95</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Soulauet, tarn of, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Soule, district in Basque valleys, <a href="#Page_148">148-154</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— road from St. Jean de Port to, <a href="#Page_148">148-151</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Souscousse, woods of, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Sousquéou, valley of, <a href="#Page_164">164-165</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spanish government, contrast of, with French, in Cerdagne, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spanish slope of Pyrenees, formation of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">type of valleys in, <a href="#Page_18">18-24</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">Roman conquest of, <a href="#Page_45">45-47</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">reconquest of, by Christians, <a href="#Page_50">50-54</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">absence of roads on, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">unmapped, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">partially given in French maps, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spates, rare in Pyrenean streams, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Spirits of wine, necessity of, <a href="#Page_126">126-127</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Streams, Pyrenean, spates rare in, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">T</li> + +<li class="indx">Tarbelli, Roman name for people of Dax, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tarbes, originally Turba, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">valleys of, and Luchon, district in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_179">179-186</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">hotel at, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tardets, central town of the Soule, <a href="#Page_150">150-151</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">admirable hotel at, <a href="#Page_221">221-222</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Taurinya, on way up Canigou from Prades, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tech, valley of, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tent, folly of carrying one, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tet, valley of, forms core of Roussillon, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— valley of, with that of Ariège, makes a district in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_204">204-209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Thirteen Winds, peak of, on Canigou, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Tigra, forest of, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Time, distance in mountains best reckoned by, <a href="#Page_77">77-78</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Torla, with Bielsa and Venasque, chief centres of Sobrarbe, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">first stage in way from Panticosa to Venasque, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">curious inn at, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Toro, Trou de, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Torte, tarn of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Towns, nature of Pyrenean, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Trainzaygues, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Treaty of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Troumouse, Cirque, <a href="#Page_181">181-182</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Turba, old name of Tarbes, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Turmo, Cabane of, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">U</li> + +<li class="indx">Urdayte, or “Ourdayte,” port of, <i>see</i> “<a href="#Ourdayte">Ourdayte</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Urdos, example of a high-valley village, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">travel through, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Urgel (Seo de), Roman bishopric on Spanish slope, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">bishopric of, counted as French during Mahommedan occupation, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">appearance of, <a href="#Page_193">193-194</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">way from, to Esterri and Val d’Aran, <a href="#Page_194">194-198</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span>hotel at, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Urtioga, Mount, western limit of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">in Basque valleys, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">V</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Val">Val d’Aran, political anomaly of, <a href="#Page_56">56-57</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">way to, from Urgel through Esterri, <a href="#Page_194">194-198</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Val Carlos, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">accommodation at, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vallcivera, Port de, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Valleys, nature of, on French slope, <a href="#Page_15">15-18</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">eight, on western French slope, <a href="#Page_12">12-15</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">two (Ariège and Tet) on eastern French slope, <a href="#Page_14">14-15</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">on Spanish slope, nature of, <a href="#Page_18">18-24</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— the Four, district of Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_155">155-166</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">strategical importance of, <a href="#Page_155">155-156</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Valley, “wrong,” <i>see</i> “<a href="#Wrong_valley">Wrong valley</a>”</li> + +<li class="indx">Venasque, mentioned as example of a town in a Spanish valley, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">way to, from Panticosa, through Sobrarbe, <a href="#Page_168">168-178</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">alternative southern way to, from Bielsa, <a href="#Page_177">177-178</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">way to, from Luchon by Port d’Oo, <a href="#Page_185">185-186</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">posada of, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li class="indx">— Port de, mentioned, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184-185</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vernet, on way up Canigou, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Viella, in Val d’Aran, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">road from, to Luchon, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">hotels of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vielle, hotel at, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Villefranche, town of, rail-head in Tet valley, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Vultures, Peak of the, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + +<li class="ifrst">W</li> + +<li class="indx">Watershed, forms political boundary during periods of high civilization, <a href="#Page_40">40-41</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Weather, peculiar difficulty of main ridge in doubtful, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wine, Spanish, taste of, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li class="indx">Wood, rarely found near lake in Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> +<li class="isub1">effect of, on streams, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Wrong_valley">“Wrong valley,” types of danger of getting into, <a href="#Page_133">133-140</a></li> + +</ul> + +<p class="center"><i>Printed by Jarrold & Sons, Ltd., Norwich</i></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="METHUENS_GENERAL_LITERATURE">METHUEN’S GENERAL LITERATURE</h2> + +</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp64" style="max-width: 9.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/methuen.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<h3>A SELECTION OF<br> +<span class="smcap">Messrs. Methuen’s</span><br> +PUBLICATIONS</h3> + +<p>This Catalogue contains only a selection of the more important +books published by Messrs. Methuen. A complete catalogue of +their publications may be obtained on application.</p> + +<h4>PART I. GENERAL LITERATURE</h4> + +<p><b>Ashby (Thomas)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Some Italian Festivals.</span> With 24 +Illustrations. <i>Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Bain (F. W.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Digit of the Moon.</span> <span class="smcap">The Descent +of the Sun.</span> <span class="smcap">A Heifer of the Dawn.</span> +<span class="smcap">In the Great God’s Hair.</span> <span class="smcap">A +Draught of the Blue.</span> <span class="smcap">An Essence +of the Dusk.</span> <span class="smcap">An Incarnation of +the Snow.</span> <span class="smcap">A Mine of Faults.</span> <span class="smcap">The +Ashes of a God.</span> <span class="smcap">Bubbles of the +Foam.</span> <span class="smcap">A Syrup of the Bees.</span> <span class="smcap">The +Livery of Eve.</span> <span class="smcap">The Substance of a +Dream.</span> <i>All Fcap. 8vo. 5s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">An +Echo of the Spheres.</span> <i>Wide Demy +8vo. 10s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Balfour (Sir Graham)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson.</span> +<i>Twentieth Edition. In one Volume. +Cr. 8vo. Buckram, 7s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Barker (Ernest)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">National Character.</span> <i>Demy 8vo. +10s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Greek Political +Theory</span>: Plato and his Predecessors. +<i>Second Edition. Demy 8vo. 14s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Belloc (Hilaire)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Paris.</span> <span class="smcap">The Pyrenees.</span> <i>Each 8s. 6d. +net.</i> <span class="smcap">On Nothing.</span> <span class="smcap">Hills and the Sea.</span> +<span class="smcap">On Something.</span> <span class="smcap">This and That and +the Other.</span> <span class="smcap">On.</span> <i>Each 6s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">First +and Last.</span> <span class="smcap">On Everything.</span> <span class="smcap">On +Anything.</span> <span class="smcap">Emmanuel Burden.</span> <i>Each +3s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Marie Antoinette.</span> <i>18s. +net.</i> <span class="smcap">A History of England.</span> In 5 +vols. Vols. I, II and III. <i>15s. net +each.</i> <span class="smcap">Hills and the Sea.</span> Illustrated +in Colour by <span class="smcap">Donald Maxwell</span>. <i>15s. +net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Birmingham (George A.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Wayfarer in Hungary.</span> Illustrated. +<i>8s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">A Wayfarer in Ireland.</span> +Illustrated. <i>7s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Spillikins</span>: +a Book of Essays. <i>3s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Ships +and Sealing Wax</span>: a Book of Essays. +<i>5s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Budge (Sir E. A. Wallis)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and +Abyssinia.</span> Illustrated. In 2 vols. +<i>£3 13s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Bulley (M. H.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art and Counterfeit.</span> Illustrated. +<i>15s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Ancient and Medieval Art: +A Short History.</span> <i>Second Edition, +Revised. Crown 8vo. 10s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Chandler (Arthur), D.D.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Ara Cœli.</span> <i>5s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Faith and Experience.</span> +<i>5s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">The Cult of the Passing +Moment.</span> <i>6s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">The English +Church and Reunion.</span> <i>5s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Scala +Mundi.</span> <i>4s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Chesterton (G. K.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Ballad of the White Horse.</span> +<span class="smcap">Charles Dickens.</span> <i>Each Fcap. 8vo, +3s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">All Things Considered.</span> +<span class="smcap">Tremendous Trifles.</span> <span class="smcap">Fancies versus +Fads.</span> <span class="smcap">Alarms and Discursions.</span> +<span class="smcap">A Miscellany of Men.</span> <span class="smcap">The Uses of +Diversity.</span> <span class="smcap">The Outline of Sanity.</span> +<i>Each Fcap. 8vo. 6s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">A Gleaming +Cohort.</span> <i>Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Wine, +Water, and Song.</span> <i>Fcap. 8vo. 1s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Clutton-Brock (A.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">What is the Kingdom of Heaven?</span> +<span class="smcap">Essays on Art.</span> <span class="smcap">Shakespeare’s Hamlet.</span> +<i>Each 5s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Essays on Books.</span> +<span class="smcap">More Essays on Books.</span> <span class="smcap">Essays on +Life.</span> <span class="smcap">Essays on Religion.</span> <span class="smcap">Essays +on Literature and Life.</span> <span class="smcap">More +Essays on Religion.</span> <i>Each 6s. net.</i> +<span class="smcap">Shelley, the Man and the Poet.</span> +<i>7s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Cottenham (The Earl of)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Motoring Without Fears.</span> Illustrated. +<i>Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Crawley (Ernest)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystic Rose.</span> Revised and Enlarged +by <span class="smcap">Theodore Besterman</span>. Two +Vols. <i>Demy 8vo. £1 10s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Dolls’ House (The Queen’s)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Book of the Queen’s Dolls’ +House.</span> Vol. I. <span class="smcap">The House</span>, Edited +by <span class="smcap">A. C. Benson</span>, C.V.O., and Sir +<span class="smcap">Lawrence Weaver</span>, K.B.E. Vol. II. +<span class="smcap">The Library</span>, Edited by <span class="smcap">E. V. Lucas</span>. +Profusely Illustrated. A Limited Edition. +<i>Crown 4to. £6 6s. net.</i> +<span class="smcap">Everybody’s Book of the Queen’s +Dolls’ House.</span> An abridged edition +of the above. Illustrated. <i>Crown 4to. +5s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Dugdale (E. T. S.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">German Diplomatic Documents, +1871-1914.</span> Selected from the Documents +published by the German Foreign +Office. In 4 vols. Vol. I, 1871-1890. +<i>Demy 8vo. £1 5s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Edwardes (Tickner)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Lore of the Honeybee.</span> <i>Thirteenth +Edition. 7s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Beekeeping +for All.</span> <i>3s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">The Bee-Master +of Warrilow.</span> <i>Third Edition. +7s. 6d. net.</i> All illustrated. <span class="smcap">Beekeeping +Do’s and Don’ts.</span> <i>2s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Einstein (Albert)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Relativity: The Special and General +Theory.</span> <i>5s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Sidelights +on Relativity.</span> <i>3s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">The +Meaning of Relativity.</span> <i>5s. net.</i> +<span class="smcap">The Brownian Movement.</span> <i>5s. net.</i> +<i>Other books on the</i> <b>Einstein Theory</b>. +<span class="smcap">An Introduction to the Theory of +Relativity.</span> By <span class="smcap">Lyndon Bolton</span>. +<i>5s. net.</i> +<span class="smcap">The Principle of Relativity.</span> By +<span class="smcap">A. Einstein</span>, <span class="smcap">H. A. Lorentz</span>, <span class="smcap">H. +Minkowski</span> and <span class="smcap">H. Weyl</span>. With +Notes by <span class="smcap">A. Sommerfeld</span>, <i>12s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Write for Complete List.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Erman (Adolph)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Literature of the Ancient +Egyptians: Poems, Narratives, and +Manuals of Instruction from the +Third and Second Millennia</span> <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> +Translated by Dr. <span class="smcap">A. M. Blackman</span>. +<i>Demy 8vo. £1 1s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Fouquet (Jean)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Life of Christ and His Mother.</span> +From Fouquet’s “Book of Hours.” +Edited by <span class="smcap">Florence Heywood</span>, B.A. +With 24 Plates in Colours. 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Two volumes each +book. <i>Square Fcap. 8vo. 3s. net.</i> each +volume.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Kipling Anthology</span>—Verse. <i>Fcap. +8vo. Cloth, 6s. net</i> and <i>3s. 6d. net.</i> +<i>Leather, 7s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Twenty Poems +from Rudyard Kipling.</span> <i>458th +Thousand. Fcap. 8vo. 1s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">A +Choice of Songs.</span> <i>Second Edition. +Fcap. 8vo. 2s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Lamb (Charles and Mary)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Complete Works.</span> Edited by +<span class="smcap">E. V. Lucas</span>. A New and Revised +Edition in Six Volumes. 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Leather +Edition. 7s. 6d. net.</i> Also India Paper. +<i>Leather, 7s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Fireside and +Sunshine.</span> <span class="smcap">Character and Comedy.</span> +<i>Each 6s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">The Gentlest Art.</span> <i>6s. 6d. +net.</i> <i>And</i> <span class="smcap">The Second Post</span>. <i>6s. net.</i> Also, +together in one volume. <i>7s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Her +Infinite Variety.</span> <span class="smcap">Good Company.</span> +<span class="smcap">One Day and Another.</span> <span class="smcap">Old Lamps +for New.</span> <span class="smcap">Loiterer’s Harvest.</span> +<span class="smcap">Cloud and Silver.</span> <span class="smcap">A Boswell of +Baghdad.</span> <span class="smcap">’Twixt Eagle and Dove.</span> +<span class="smcap">The Phantom Journal.</span> <span class="smcap">Giving and +Receiving.</span> <span class="smcap">Luck of the Year.</span> <span class="smcap">Encounters +and Diversions.</span> <span class="smcap">Zigzags +in France.</span> <span class="smcap">Events and Embroideries.</span> +<span class="smcap">365 Days (and One More).</span> <span class="smcap">A Fronded +Isle.</span> <i>Each 6s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Urbanities.</span> Illustrated +by <span class="smcap">G. 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Cloth, 6s. net. +Leather, 7s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Milne (A. A.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Not that it Matters.</span> <span class="smcap">If I May.</span> +<span class="smcap">The Sunny Side.</span> <span class="smcap">The Red House +Mystery.</span> <span class="smcap">Once a Week.</span> <span class="smcap">The Holiday +Round.</span> <span class="smcap">The Day’s Play.</span> <i>Each +3s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">When We were Very +Young.</span> <i>Sixteenth Edition. 169th +Thousand.</i> <span class="smcap">Winnie-the-Pooh.</span> <i>Sixth +Edition. 91st Thousand.</i> <span class="smcap">Now We +are Six.</span> <i>Fourth Edition. 109th Thousand.</i> +Each illustrated by <span class="smcap">E. H. +Shepard</span>. <i>7s. 6d. net. Leather, 10s. 6d. +net.</i> <span class="smcap">For the Luncheon Interval.</span> +<i>1s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Milne (A. 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Paper, 1s. 3d. net. +Cloth, 2s. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Winds of the Dawn.</span> +<i>2s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Perry (W. 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Demy 8vo. £1 1s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Tilden (William T.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Art of Lawn Tennis.</span> <span class="smcap">Singles +and Doubles.</span> <span class="smcap">The Tennis Racket.</span> +<i>Each</i>, illustrated, <i>6s. net</i>. <span class="smcap">The Common +Sense of Lawn Tennis.</span> <span class="smcap">Match +Play and the Spin of the Ball.</span> +Illustrated. <i>5s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Tileston (Mary W.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Daily Strength for Daily Needs.</span> +<i>32nd Edition. 3s. 6d. net.</i> India Paper. +<i>Leather, 6s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Trapp (Oswald Graf)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Armoury of the Castle of Churburg.</span> +Translated by <span class="smcap">J. G. Mann</span>. +Richly illustrated. <i>Royal 4to.</i> Limited +to 400 copies. <i>£3 5s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Underhill (Evelyn)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mysticism</span> (<i>Eleventh Edition</i>). <i>15s. net.</i> +<span class="smcap">The Life of the Spirit and the Life +of To-day</span> (<i>Sixth Edition</i>). <i>7s. 6d. +net.</i> <span class="smcap">Man and the Supernatural.</span> +<i>7s. 6d. net.</i> <span class="smcap">Concerning the Inner +Life</span> (<i>Fourth Edition</i>). <i>2s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Urwick (E. J.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Social Good.</span> <i>Demy 8vo. +10s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Vardon (Harry)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">How to Play Golf.</span> Illustrated. +<i>19th Edition. Crown 8vo. 5s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Waterhouse (Elizabeth)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Little Book of Life and Death.</span> +<i>23rd Edition. Small Pott 8vo. 2s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Wilde (Oscar)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Works.</span> In 17 Vols. <i>Each 6s. 6d. +net.</i></p> + +<p>I. <span class="smcap">Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and +the Portrait of Mr. W. H.</span> II. <span class="smcap">The +Duchess of Padua.</span> III. <span class="smcap">Poems.</span> IV. +<span class="smcap">Lady Windermere’s Fan.</span> V. <span class="smcap">A +Woman of No Importance.</span> VI. <span class="smcap">An +Ideal Husband.</span> VII. <span class="smcap">The Importance +of Being Earnest.</span> VIII. <span class="smcap">A +House of Pomegranates.</span> IX. <span class="smcap">Intentions.</span> +X. <span class="smcap">De Profundis and +Prison Letters.</span> XI. <span class="smcap">Essays.</span> XII. +<span class="smcap">Salome, A Florentine Tragedy</span>, and +<span class="smcap">La Sainte Courtisane</span>. XIII. <span class="smcap">A +Critic in Pall Mall.</span> XIV. <span class="smcap">Selected +Prose of Oscar Wilde.</span> XV. <span class="smcap">Art and +Decoration.</span> XVI. <span class="smcap">For Love of the +King.</span> (<i>5s. net.</i>) XVII. <span class="smcap">Vera, or the +Nihilists.</span></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Williamson (G. C.)</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Book of Famille Rose.</span> Richly +Illustrated. <i>Demy 4to. £8 8s. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<h4>PART II. A SELECTION OF SERIES</h4> + +<p><b>The Antiquary’s Books</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><i>Each</i>, illustrated, <i>Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>The Arden Shakespeare</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Edited by <span class="smcap">W. J. Craig</span> and <span class="smcap">R. H. Case</span>. +<i>Each, wide Demy 8vo. 6s. net.</i></p> + +<p>The Ideal Library Edition, in single +plays, each edited with a full Introduction, +Textual Notes and a Commentary +at the foot of the page. Now complete +in 39 Vols.</p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Classics of Art</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Edited by <span class="smcap">J. H. W. Laing</span>. <i>Each</i>, profusely +illustrated, <i>wide Royal 8vo. 15s. +net to £3 3s. net.</i></p> + +<p>A Library of Art dealing with Great +Artists and with branches of Art.</p> + +</div> + +<p><b>The Connoisseur’s Library</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><i>With numerous Illustrations. Wide +Royal 8vo. £1 11s. 6d. net each vol.</i> +<span class="smcap">European Enamels.</span> <span class="smcap">Fine Books.</span> +<span class="smcap">Glass.</span> <span class="smcap">Goldsmiths’ and Silversmiths’ +Work.</span> <span class="smcap">Ivories.</span> <span class="smcap">Jewellery.</span> +<span class="smcap">Mezzotints.</span> <span class="smcap">Porcelain.</span> <span class="smcap">Seals.</span> +<span class="smcap">Mussulman Painting.</span></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>English Life in English Literature</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>General Editors: <span class="smcap">Eileen Power</span>, +M.A., D.Lit., and <span class="smcap">A. W. Reed</span>, M.A., +D.Lit. <i>Each, Crown 8vo, 6s. net.</i></p> + +<p>A series of source-books for students of +history and of literature.</p> + +<p><b>The Faiths</b>: <span class="smcap">Varieties of Christian +Expression</span>. Edited by <span class="smcap">L. P. Jacks</span>, +M.A., D.D., LL.D. <i>Each, Crown 8vo, +5s. net</i> each volume. The first volumes +are: <span class="smcap">The Anglo-Catholic Faith</span> +(<span class="smcap">T. A. Lacey</span>); <span class="smcap">Modernism in the +English Church</span> (<span class="smcap">P. Gardner</span>); <span class="smcap">The +Faith and Practice of the Quakers</span> +(<span class="smcap">R. M. Jones</span>); <span class="smcap">Congregationalism</span> +(<span class="smcap">W. B. Selbie</span>); <span class="smcap">The Faith of the +Roman Church</span> (<span class="smcap">C. C. Martindale</span>); +<span class="smcap">The Life and Faith of the Baptists</span> +(<span class="smcap">H. Wheeler Robinson</span>); <span class="smcap">The Presbyterian +Churches</span> (<span class="smcap">James Moffatt</span>); +<span class="smcap">Methodism</span> (<span class="smcap">W. Bardsley Brash</span>); +<span class="smcap">The Evangelical Movement in the +English Church</span> (<span class="smcap">L. Elliott Binns</span>); +<span class="smcap">The Unitarians</span> (<span class="smcap">Henry Gow</span>).</p> + +</div> + +<p><b>A History of England in Seven Volumes</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Edited by Sir <span class="smcap">Charles Oman</span>, K.B.E., +M.P., M.A., F.S.A. With Maps. +<i>Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d. net</i> each volume. +<span class="smcap">England before the Norman Conquest</span> +(Sir <span class="smcap">C. Oman</span>); <span class="smcap">England under +the Normans and Angevins</span> (<span class="smcap">H. W. C. +Davies</span>); <span class="smcap">England in the Later +Middle Ages</span> (<span class="smcap">K. H. Vickers</span>); <span class="smcap">England +under the Tudors</span> (<span class="smcap">A. D. Innes</span>); +<span class="smcap">England under the Stuarts</span> (<span class="smcap">G. M. +Trevelyan</span>); <span class="smcap">England under the +Hanoverians</span> (Sir <span class="smcap">C. Grant Robertson</span>); +<span class="smcap">England Since Waterloo</span> (Sir +<span class="smcap">J. A. R. Marriott</span>).</p> + +</div> + +<p><b>The Library of Devotion</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Handy editions of the great Devotional +books, well edited. <i>Small Pott 8vo. +3s. net and 3s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Modern Masterpieces</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><i>Fcap. 8vo.</i> <i>3s. 6d.</i> each volume. +Pocketable Editions of Works by +<span class="smcap">Hilaire Belloc</span>, <span class="smcap">Arnold Bennett</span>, +<span class="smcap">E. F. Benson</span>, <span class="smcap">George A. Birmingham</span>, +<span class="smcap">Marjorie Beown</span>, <span class="smcap">G. K. Chesterton</span>, +<span class="smcap">A. Clutton-Brock</span>, <span class="smcap">Joseph Conrad</span>, +<span class="smcap">George Gissing</span>, <span class="smcap">Kenneth Grahame</span>, +<span class="smcap">A. P. Herbert</span>, <span class="smcap">W. H. Hudson</span>, <span class="smcap">Rudyard +Kipling</span>, <span class="smcap">E. V. Knox</span>, <span class="smcap">Jack +London</span>, <span class="smcap">E. V. Lucas</span>, <span class="smcap">Robert Lynd</span>, +<span class="smcap">Rose Macaulay</span>, <span class="smcap">John Masefield</span>, <span class="smcap">A. +A. Milne</span>, <span class="smcap">Arthur Morrison</span>, <span class="smcap">Eden +Phillpotts</span>, <span class="smcap">Marmaduke Pickthall</span>, +<span class="smcap">Charles G. D. Roberts</span>, and <span class="smcap">R. L. +Stevenson</span>.</p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Methuen’s Half-Crown Library</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><i>Crown 8vo and Fcap. 8vo.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>Methuen’s Two-Shilling Library</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><i>Fcap. 8vo.</i></p> + +<p class="center">Two series of cheap editions of popular +books.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Write for complete lists.</i></p> + +</div> + +<p><b>The Wayfarer Series of Books for +Travellers</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><i>Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. net each.</i> Well +illustrated and with maps. The volumes +are:—Alsace, Austria, Czecho-Slovakia, +The Dolomites, Egypt, +French Vineyards, Hungary, Ireland, +The Loire, Portugal, Provence, The +Seine, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, +Unfamiliar Japan, Unknown Tuscany, +The West Indies.</p> + +</div> + +<p><b>The Westminster Commentaries</b></p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p><i>Demy 8vo. 8s. 6d. net to 16s. net.</i></p> + +<p>Edited by <span class="smcap">W. Lock</span>, D.D., and <span class="smcap">D. C. +Simpson</span>, D.D.</p> + +<p>The object of these commentaries is +primarily to interpret the author’s meaning +to the present generation, taking +the English text in the Revised Version +as their basis.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>THE LITTLE GUIDES</h4> + +<p class="center"><i>Small Pott 8vo.</i> Illustrated and with Maps</p> + +<p class="center">THE 65 VOLUMES IN THE SERIES ARE:—</p> + +<ul> +<li><span class="smcap">Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Berkshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Brittany</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Buckinghamshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Cambridge and Colleges</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Cambridgeshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Cathedral Cities of England and Wales</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Channel Islands</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Cheshire</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Cornwall</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Cumberland and Westmorland</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Derbyshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Devon</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Dorset</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Durham</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">English Lakes</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Essex</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Florence</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">French Riviera</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Gloucestershire</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Gray’s Inn and Lincoln’s Inn</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hampshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Herefordshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hertfordshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Isle of Man</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Isle of Wight</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Kent</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Lancashire</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Leicestershire and Rutland</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Lincolnshire</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">London</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Malvern Country</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Middlesex</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Monmouthshire</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Norfolk</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Normandy</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Northamptonshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Northumberland</span> 7<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">North Wales</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Nottinghamshire</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Oxford and Colleges</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Oxfordshire</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Paris</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Rome</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">St. Paul’s Cathedral</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Shakespeare’s Country</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Shropshire</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Sicily</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Snowdonia</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Somerset</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">South Wales</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Staffordshire</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Suffolk</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Surrey</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Sussex</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Temple</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Venice</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Warwickshire</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Westminster Abbey</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Wiltshire</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Worcestershire</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Yorkshire East Riding</span> 5<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Yorkshire North Riding</span> 4<i>s.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Yorkshire West Riding</span> 7<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> net.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">York</span> 6<i>s.</i> net.</li> +</ul> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Methuen & Co. Ltd., 36 Essex Street, London, W.C.2</span></p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75369 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/75369-h/images/cover.jpg b/75369-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..74928e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/75369-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/75369-h/images/frontispiece.jpg b/75369-h/images/frontispiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4cd0d18 --- /dev/null +++ b/75369-h/images/frontispiece.jpg diff --git a/75369-h/images/illus01.jpg b/75369-h/images/illus01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5afb728 --- /dev/null +++ b/75369-h/images/illus01.jpg diff --git a/75369-h/images/illus02.jpg b/75369-h/images/illus02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..32e4a41 --- /dev/null +++ b/75369-h/images/illus02.jpg diff --git a/75369-h/images/illus03.jpg b/75369-h/images/illus03.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 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