46 PROCEEDINGS 01 SOCIETIES. 



of sunset half-past 4 ; and although the weather was unusually hot in the 

 south of France during our stay, yet the long, cool twilight, secured by 

 the shadows of its encircling hills, rendered the mornings and evenings 

 at Cauteretz most deliciously favourable for out-door occupations. 



One of our excursions from Cauteretz, where we remained three 

 weeks, was to the Pont d'Espagne and Lac de Gaube, — visits quite, and 

 deservedly, the mode with all English visitors, and not a few French 

 ladies and gentlemen who can ride along the edge of precipices, or walk 

 twelve or fourteen miles over a path which mainly consists of pitfalls and 

 boulders. But it well repays the risk and exertion necessary. The 

 romantic beauty of the Pont, the wild solitude of the Lac, the depth 

 of the gorge, its irised cascades, with their reverberating echoes, and the 

 silvan beauty of the pine forests that line the route to those more ele- 

 vated spots, are beyond all praise, defy all description, and leave remi- 

 niscences that can never be forgotten. 



The Lac de Gaube is a sheet of the purest snow-water, 270 feet deep, 

 and three miles in circumference, lying at the base of the Vignemale, 

 whose glaciered sides tower aloft to the height of 11,043 feet, while its 

 snows dip down to the very edge of the water. The lake itself is 5840 

 feet above the level of the sea. Its temperature, which I tested with a 

 portable thermometer, was 48° Fahr., the external air, under the in- 

 fluence of a brilliant sun, being 64° in the shade. The coldness of the 

 lake accounts for the absence of ordinary aquatic vegetation — no plants, 

 save a few Diatomacese, appearing to be able to flourish in the clear 

 depths of these mountain waters. 



Within a few feet of the edge, I found magnificent plants of the 

 Gentiana lutea, with its rich pyramid of golden flowers; the rare Swertzia 

 perennis was not far distant ; and the beautiful parsley fern, Allosoros 

 crispus, was abundant on the rocky ground. 



The tomb of a young English couple, who perished in the lake a few 

 days after their marriage, by the upsetting of the frail skiff of the pea- 

 sant who resides here during the summer, is erected upon a little island 

 close to the eastern shore, adding not a little to the sentimental charm 

 of this lonely spot. The real history of this disaster will, no doubt, one 

 day fade into a legend, to suggest a romance, or embellish a poem. 



In returning from the Lac de Gaube we were overtaken by a thunder- 

 storm, accompanied by vivid flashes of lightning, and hailstones of an 

 extraordinary size and form : the latter were about an inch long, and 

 half an inch in diameter at one end, gradually narrowing to the other ; 

 they thus bore a close resemblance to an egg, though tapering more to 

 the smaller end, and were quite as large as those of a sparrow or chaf- 

 finch. This storm added not a little to the magnificence of the scenery 

 around, though not contributing to the comfort or security of the jour- 

 ney : we reached our hotel in safety, however, after a day of varied and 

 unalloyed enjoyment. 



Another excursion from Cauteretz, presenting fewer attractions and 

 greater difficulties, is that to the Lac d'Estom, at the head of the valley 

 Lutour, about five miles to the east of Lac de Gaube, from which it is 



