260 Mr Amott's Tour to the Pyrenees. 



tolerably good, and the scenery wild : cultivation of some kind 

 is to be seen in all the valleys, e^en in that at the foot of the 

 highest ridge. We had no instruments with us by which we 

 could have ascertained the elevation, but we were informed, 

 that, had the weather been clear, we ought to have seen Mont 

 Louis from the summit : the fogs were, however, very intense, 

 and only cleared away for a few minutes on the side of Seo 

 d'Urgel, which we saw. The peals of thunder were so constant, 

 that before the short echo of one was over, another burst upon 

 our ears ; so that for about two hours, or even more, there was, 

 as it were, an incessant roll. 



Before we left France, we had been assured that M. Bolois, 

 a physician from Olot in Catalonia, had rediscovered the loca- 

 lity of Salvia pyrenaica in the vicinity of Seo d'Urgel. This 

 fine species was first observed by Fagon, and afterwards by 

 Tournefort ; but the plant, as well as the locality, is almost un- 

 known to modern botanists. Notwithstanding we looked par- 

 ticularly for it, we did not see any thing like it. I believe that 

 Asso, in his account of the plants of Arragon, gives the locality 

 for this species ; but I neither have the work, nor have the 

 means at present of referring to it. 



Upon the whole, the best ground for the botanist about Seo 

 d''Urgel, appears to be in the valleys along the Segre, particu- 

 larly below the town. 



On the 7th, we arranged the plants we had gathered the day 

 before, as it was not a day suited for an excursion, — no less than 

 three thunder storms, accompanied with tremendous falls of 

 rain, having passed over the town. Two houses that were 

 partly burned by the French a year and a half before, were 

 shattered to the ground. This day was also the J'ite of the 

 town ; but the priests having assured the people that the rains 

 which had fallen every day for at least six weeks were as a pun- 

 ishment inflicted on them for their sins, particularly against the 

 government, had interdicted dancing : it was of little conse- 

 quence, as the rain must have, without the assistance of the 

 priests, put a stop to that amusement. 



On the 8ch, we had the prospect of a delightful day, and we ac- 

 cordingly left Seo d'Urgel at six in the morning for the valley of 

 Andorra, having previously procured some days' provision of 



