PYRENEES, HAUTKS. 



PYRENEES-ORIENT A LKS. 



U much admired. Edward the Black Prinoe kept hi* court in Tarbe*- 

 Uabuiiryiut, X. of Tarbea, on the Adour, liu a remarkable oliuix-li- 

 built by the Templar*, and 2202 inhabitant*. Cfcnm, &W. of Tarbea, 

 i a population i>f 8016. On a hill near it there is an ancient Roman 

 up, which, local tradition fays, was laid out by Cesar's lieutenant, 

 Maua. Yi<-tn-Biyorrt, a small town surrounded by larger tuburbe, 

 M situated 12 mile* N. from Tarbea, and haa a college, brandy dintil- 

 briea, tan-yards, and 4644 inhabitants. It waa formerly defended by 

 a (roug caatlo, built in 1151, nnd of which there are still some 

 remain*. The places that give name to the other cant bus are mere 

 Tillage*. 



2. The aecond arrondiaaement take* ita name from Argtltt, or 

 Aryeta, a small town with a college and 1589 inhabitant*, situated at 

 the northern entrance of the beautiful valley of Lavedan, on the left 

 bank of the Oare-d'Ann. a feeder of the Oave-de-Pau, 18 miles S.S.W. 

 from Tarbea. Ht.-ff, situated in a country rich in copper- and lead- 

 mine*, on the right bank of the Gave-da-Pau, 7 miles N.W. from 

 Argvlea, haa a population of 2972, who manufacture naila and box- 

 wood combs, and export roonng-tlate*. Lovrda, 5 miles E. from St.- 

 1'c, stands on Uie Gave-de-1'au, and is built nt the meeting of five 

 high roads round a rook, surmounted by an old castle of the counts 

 of Bigorre, and on the slope* of a ravine which is traversed by a 

 torrent. The house* are pretty well built, but from the nature of the 

 ground the street* are irregular. The town has a tribunal of first 

 instance, and 4146 inhabitants. It is a very ancient place ; remains 

 of ancient tower*, said to be of Roman construction, are seen here. 

 By the treaty of Bretigny, this town, with the rest of Bigorre, was 

 ceded to the English as part of the ransom of the French king, John. 

 The history of Lourde* forms an admirable story in Froissart. A 

 few miles S. from Argelcs, at the small village of Pierrefitte, the road 

 diverge* into two branches, which lead, through narrow gorges sepa- 

 rated by a mountain mass above 7000 feet in height, to the famous 

 hot springs of Cauttnlz and St.-Sativcar. Cauteretz is about 7 miles 

 from 1'ierrefittc. The road which leads to it is cut with great 

 engineering skill, and presents some of the finest mountain scenery in 

 this part of the Pyrenees. The baths are very numerously frequented 

 in July and August. About 6 miles from Cauteretz is the famous 

 Pont-d' Etpayne, a bridge consisting of a number of pine-trees thrown 

 across a narrow chasm in the rocks, into which two mountain streams 

 leap and unite, while the sides of the ravine are covered with dark 

 pine-forest*, diversified here and there by granite cliffs that shoot up 

 into spires and pinnacles. Not far from the Pont-d'Eapagnc are the 

 Lac-de-daube, the largest tarn among the Pyrenees, and near it the 

 VignemaU, one of the highest mountains in France. [Pr.ni 



The road to the baths of St.-Sauveur passes through Luz, 9 miles 

 S.E. from Pierrefittc, the narrow gorge presenting scenery similar to 

 that already noticed. Luz is a clean village, situated at the foot of 

 tlie Pic-de-Bergoms, a high mountain of easy approach, commanding 

 a magnificent view, and on a crystal stream that flows with great 

 rapidity through the ravine in which the town stauds. The population 

 of Luz is 2640. The church, which was built by the Templars, is a 

 remarkable structure, a good deal resembling a fortress. Half a mile 

 8.W. from Luz are the hot baths of St.-Sauveur, and about 2 miles 

 N.E. are the still more famous baths of Baregce. Barfeges is inhabited 

 only during the summer and autumn, at which time it is visited by 

 about 1300 invalids. The springs are the highest in the Pyrenees; 

 the winters consequently are long and cold, so that no population 

 remains, except a few people who take care of the houses in the 

 -, . 



3. The third arrondissement is named from its chief town, Bagntrcs- 

 <le-Bigorrt (the A quentu Vicut of the Romans), 481 miles S.S.W. from 

 Paris. It stands in 43 3' N. lat, 8' E. long., on the left bank of 

 the Adour, and has a resident population of 8385 in the commune. 

 The town is celebrated for its medicinal baths, which are much fre- 

 quented from May to the end of October, during which time the 

 population is increased to about 15,000. The town stands at the foot 

 of a lime-atone hill, from the sides of which the medicinal waters flow 

 which supply the public and private baths. There are about 70 baths, 

 which vary in temperature from 90 to 135 Fahr. The waters of all 

 the baths differ only in temperature ; they are clear and without any 

 peculiar taste, aperient, and tonic. Bagneres is perhaps the neatest 

 and best-built town in the south of France : the streets are wide, well 

 laid out, well paved, and watered by streams from the Adour. Th 

 environs are very beautiful and extremely fertile : there are delightful 

 walks in the valley of Cainpan and along the banks of the Adour. 

 The town contains a library and reading-rooms, and an establishment 

 with accommodations for dancing, leading, bathing, gaming, theatrical 

 performance*, Ac. There are also a college nnd an hospital for the 

 poor. Some manufactures of woollen-stuffs of good quality, serges, 

 crape*, and other fabrics are carried on here; paper is also manu- 

 factured. Quarries of fine marble nre worked near the town. 

 Camp** if a well-built town, situated on the Adour, about 4 miles 

 8.8.E. from Bagoerea, in a very rich and fertile valley, and lias a popu- 

 lation of 4048, who manufacture woollen-cloth and pper, and export 

 marble from the quarries in the neighbourhood. There is a large 

 groMo Bear the town filled with beautiful crystallisations. The valley 

 of Campan is at the source of the Adour, and comprehends in realitv 

 two valleys, one of them watered by the Adour, and the other by its 



feeder, the TrasporU. The delightful scenery of the valley of Campan. 

 forms one of the attractions of the neighbouring watering-place, 

 Bagueres-de-Bigorro, the most frequented of this part of France. 

 The mineral riches of the valley constitute however its chief claim to 

 notice. It is celebrated for its fine-grained marble of different colours, 

 some of purple and white with veins of green, and some of deep red 

 veined with green and white. The marble quarries of Campan have 

 been loug worked by the government for the embellishment of the 

 royal residences of France. The valley of Campan is one of tho most 

 fertile iu tho department ; and the flocks, orchards, and gardens, 

 which its inhabitant* generally possess, enable them to live in com- 

 fort The Pic-du-Midi-de-Bigorre, which overlooks the valley, rises to 

 the height of 9544 feet. 



The department forms the see of the Bishop of Tarbes ; is included 

 in the jurisdiction of the High Court of Pau, and withiu the limits of 

 the University-Academy of Toulouse; and belongs to the 13th Mili- 

 tary Division, of which Bayouue is bead-quarters. It returns two 

 members to the Legislative Chamber of the French empire. 



(Dictionnaire de la France ; Annuairc pour I' An 1863 ; Annuairc 

 du Commerce ; Official Papers.) 



PYRENEES-ORIENTALES, a department in the south of France 

 lies between 42 20' and 42 55' N. lat., 1 44' and 3 10' E. long. 

 From east to west its greatest length is 76 miles ; from north to south, 

 35 miles. The area U 1591 '4 square miles. The population iu 1841 

 was 173,592; in 1851 it was 181,955, which gives 114-336 to the 

 square mile, being 60'248 below the average per square mile for all 

 France. 



The department is formed out of the former district of Rousillon 

 and portions of Cerdagne and Languedoc, and named from its position 

 at the eastern extremity of the Pyrenees. It is bounded S. by the 

 main ridge of the Pyrenees, except at one or two points, where it 

 encroaches on their southern slopes ; W. by the Val-d'Andorre and 

 Ariege, from which last it is separated by an offshoot of the Pyrenees 

 on the left bank of the Aube ; N.W. and N. by the department of 

 Aube, from which the Corbieres Mountains on the right bank of 

 the Aube divide it ; and E. by the Mediterranean and the southern 

 part of the shore-lake of Leucate. A plain of considerable width, and 

 in general of great fertility, extends along the coast, which, reckoning 

 all its indentations, measures about 45 miles. The interior is traversed 

 by two ranges of mountains, one of which springs from Mont-Canigou, 

 the highest point in the department (9135 feet), and, curving from 

 south to east, divides the basin of the Tech from that of the Tet ; 

 the other range runs from west to east, between the Tet and the Gly, 

 into which last the Verdouble runs from the south-eastern slopes of 

 the Corbieres. All these mountains are furrowed by numerous valleys 

 and by streams that enter the principal rivers already named, which 

 fall into the Mediterranean. A small portion in the west of the 

 department is drained by the Aube, which flows out of the Pyi 

 Oriuiitales by the defile between the Koc-Blanc and the Corbieres 

 Mountains. On the southern slope of the Pyrenees, and not far from 

 the sources of the Tech and the Aube, the Segre, a Spanish river, 

 takes its rise. None of these rivers are navigable, but the waters of 

 most of them are turned to good account for fertilising the laud by 

 means of au excellent and extensive system of irrigation, whereby, in 

 the plain of Perpiguau, the valleys of the Tet, the Tech, and the Gly, 

 not less than 70,000 acres of land, are rendered exceedingly productive. 

 Two canals, namely, those of Millas and Perpiguao, date respectively 

 from the years 1163 and 1172 : the latter is nearly 20 miles long, with 

 a mean breadth of 10 feet and a total fall of 300 feet. 



The soil ill the plains of the arrondissement of Perpignan consists 

 of a layer of vegetable earth about a foot deep, resting on sand 

 or gravel. By careful husbandry aud by an extensive system of 

 irrigation it is made to produce tine crops of wheat, rye, black aud 

 white oats, maize, millet, barley, broad and haricot beans, flax, hemp, 

 fruits, &c. The olive and the vine are extensively cultivated The 

 arrondissemeut of Ceret, drained by the Tech, is with little exception 

 a cold mountainous country, cut up by narrow arid valleys ; placed 

 aboved the region of the vine, it produces only rye, oats, maize, 

 chestnuts, and pulse. The arrondisse/ment of Prades, also very moun- 

 tainous, is diversified by several ranges of vine-clad hills, and by 

 valleys inferior neither in soil nor cultivation to the plain of Perpignan, 

 which it also resembles in its products. The corn produce of the 

 department exceeds the consumption. Of wine about 7,000,000 

 gallons are made annually. Tiie red wines of Rousillon are in general 

 of excellent quality, agreeable taste, strong body, and well adapted 

 for transport ; they are used for giving colour and body to the lighter 

 growths of Cahors and Auvergne. The wines of Collioure aud Port- 

 Vendres have the highest repute ; they become of a golden hue with 

 age ; in this state they take tho name of llancio de Rousillon. The 

 sweet wines of Rivesaltes hold the first rank among the dessert wines 

 of France. 



The mountains of the department are in many parts clothed with 

 fine forests of oak, beech, pine, and fir, and abound with aromatic and 

 medicinal plants. The cork tree grows naturally, and is also an 

 object of careful cultivation. There is but little grass land, but the 

 breadth of heath, moor, aud mountain pasture is very considerable. 

 Good farm- and saddle^horses, a great number of mules for the 

 Spanish markets, few horned-cattle, but a. large number of sheep 



