84 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 
mountain of Superbagnéres, which rises from the back of the 
town, the gorge of Esquierry (“le jardin des Pyrénées”); the 
Lacs d’Oo (Lac de Séculéjo and Lac d’Espingo) lymg between 
Mont Crabioules and the Vallée d’Aure ; the Vallée de Barbe (in 
which is the Bois de Gouerdére), and, passing through the Port 
de Portillon at its extremity, the upper part of the Vallée d’Aran 
in Catalonia; and on the 10th, 11th and 12th of September, 
passing through the Bois de Sajust and the Port de Bénasque (in 
the central chain), | had ascended the Maladetta in Aragon. 
Leaving Bagnéres-de-Luchon and the Haute Garonne on the 
4th of October, I returned to Bagnéres-de-Bigorre, and occupied 
myself until nearly the end of the month in exploring its envi- 
rons, by which my collection of pleurocarpous mosses was much 
enriched. The localities examined were the rocks of Bédat and 
Salut, close by the town; Mont Lhieris and the woods of Gerde 
and Asté at its base; the Gorge de Labassére; the Vallée de 
Lesponne with Lac Léhou (otherwise Lac Bleu), and a tributary 
valley (Ardalos) extending to the base of the termial cone of the 
Pic du Midi. The autumn being unusually prolonged, and the 
summits still clear of snow, I undertook another expedition to 
the Basses Pyrénées, and on the Ist of November proceeded 
again to Laruns, where I remained until fairly driven away by 
the coming of winter. Besides the localities visited in summer 
from this station, I now examined the Vallée de Béost, which 
leads across the Col de Louvie to the Vallée d’Argélez ; the upper 
part of the Gave de Valentin towards the Col de Tortes; the 
mountain (Goursi) which shades Laruns on the south ; and Gabas, 
near the base of the Pic du Midi. Driven from the mountains, 
my next destination was, by way of Pau, to Dax (Aque Auguste 
Tarbellice) in the Landes (Ager Syrticus), where I arrived on the 
18th of November. In the midst of almost unceasing rain I vi- 
sited in this rich district the ophitic rocks of St. Pandelon on the 
banks of the Luy (a tributary of the Adour), the chalk rocks of 
Tercis, and the woods of Saubagnac and La Torte. Having de- 
voted a fortnight to a re-examination of the neighbourhood of 
Pau, I returned early in December to Bagnéres to winter. In 
the Pyrenees, as throughout nearly all the rest of Europe, the 
winter of 1845-6 was remarkably mild, and by the month of 
February the lower mountains were quite clear of snow. I availed 
myself of this circumstance to explore the district almost com- 
pletely, and in one instance to make, in company with M. Phi- 
lippe, an excursion of four days (from the 5th to the 8th of Fe- 
bruary) into the heart of the mountains, for the purpose of ex- 
amining the back of the Pic de Mont-Aigu and the Vallée de 
Castelloubon (otherwise V. de Gazos), which is separated by only 
a narrow ridge from the valleys of Luz and Argélez. Even at 
