42 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



the pedestrian rarely wanting in a French town of any pretensions, 

 extends west of Bayonne for a mile or more along the banks of the Adour. 

 Its sandy sides were profusely covered with various Leguminosa?, and 

 supplied me with good specimens of Trifolium incarnatum, T. resupina- 

 tum, T. patens , Ononis natrix, and Melilotus arvensis. 



Leaving Bayonne at 7 p.m., we reached Pau at 5 a.m. of the 4th 

 of July. The night was spent in such comfort as could be afforded by 

 the coupe of a diligence, a full half of which was occupied by smexigeante 

 Spanish signora on her way to the baths of Panticosa. The dawn 

 was watched with interest, bringing, as it happily did, relief from our 

 confined position, and a magnificent view of the snow-capped summits 

 of the Pyrenean range, gloriously filling up the landscape to the south 

 and east; the northern slopes lying in the deep shades of night, 

 while the stainless peaks glittered in the rosy light of the rising sun. 



At the distance of more than ten leagues, the mountains appeared 

 to be within a few miles of our road, giving us a first example of the 

 deceptive nature of the impressions of magnitude and extent conveyed 

 to the eye by unaccustomed elevations, such as those now before us ; 

 indeed, it was some days before we could understand that what seems 

 a mile in these mountains must be taken as a league, and the hill of a 

 few hundred feet in apparent height was a mountain of as many thou- 

 sands ! 



The approach to Pau from Bayonne is interesting, notwithstanding 

 the monotonous nature of the road, which for the last six miles is a per- 

 fectly straight and level avenue of poplars. 



The town is built upon a knoll of considerable elevation, embosomed 

 in trees, and crowned by its fine old chateau, venerable not merely from 

 its age, which dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century, but 

 from its associations as the birth-place of Henry IV., the refuge of 

 Calvin, and the stronghold of Protestantism on its first establishment in 

 France. 



A couple of days sufficed to enable us to visit the chateau, and become 

 familiar with the chief objects of curiosity in this ancient capital of 

 Navarre. 



The main interest of Pau lies in its situation, commanding as it does 

 a full view of the mountains, which stretch in an unbroken line of more 

 than sixty miles along the southern horizon. 



This view is too distant — being upwards of twenty-five miles — to 

 give a very accurate idea of either the elevation or extent of the range, 

 but it gains rather than loses by familiarity, and the play of the lights 

 and shadows upon the summits, flanks, and valleys of the mountains se- 

 cures a perpetual change and variety of aspect, which presents fresh 

 charms and beauties upon every inspection. Unquestionably, the English 

 invalid, if not profiting by the proverbial calm of the mild and serene 

 atmosphere of Pau, may at least find materials for soothing contempla- 

 tion in the lovely landscape included in this magnificent panorama. 



Our first close acquaintance with the mountains was made at Eaux 

 Bonnes, and Eaux Chaudes, the approach to which from Pau, though 



