I90I WM. BELLOWS — PYRENEES AND ANDORRA 297 



were now 8700 feet above the sea, and here in this cold 

 and lonely spot we spent the night. 1 urged the guides 

 to light a fire, but the firewood had been brought from 

 many miles away and was not to be wasted. We there- 

 fore reserved the privilege of warmth for breakfast time, 

 and turned in for the night upon the rack of straw. We 

 were the first to sleep there for the year, and things 

 seemed damp. We could almost hear the icy wind howl 

 through the solid wall of masonry. There were no 

 windows : only iron lids for use in fine weather, and when 

 these were shut, and the door also, the inside was as dark 

 as night. The moon had risen, and the scene from the 

 rocks outside was one not to be forgotten. Mont Perdu, 

 the chief summit in the Pyrenees, after the group of 

 Maladetta, and within five feet of 11,000, rose in front of 

 us from the gloom below, apparently within a stone's 

 throw, but two miles away across the abyss. Cold as it 

 was inside the hut, it was colder out, and we soon settled 

 in for the night. Early next morning we descended 

 hundreds of feet on to the snow fields below, and after 

 another hard climb beyond, found ourselves cutting steps 

 across the snow to the foot of the final dome. A little 

 later we were at the summit. 



The descent was easier : we halted for breakfast at the 

 edge of a frozen lake ; towards midday we passed a herd 

 of " izards," or Pyreneean chamois : in the afternoon we 

 stood within the walls of the Breche de Roland : and by 

 evening were once again in the village of Gavarnie. 



II. The Republic of Andorra 



This strange little republic lies between France and 

 Spain in the eastern Pyrenees, its people dating their in- 

 dependence back to the days of Charlemagne, who thereby 

 rewarded them for assisting him against the Moors. At 



U2 



