390 JOURNEY THROUGH FRANCE. CHAP. XVT1. 



declining to receive any recompense beyond the simple 

 expenses of the journey. He could only arrange to be 

 absent for six weeks, and set out from England about 

 the middle of September, 1845. 



The party was joined at Paris by Mr. Mackenzie, the 

 contractor for the Orleans and Tours Railway, then 

 in course of construction, who took them over the 

 works, and accompanied them as far as Tours. Sir 

 Joshua Walmsley was struck during the journey by 

 Mr. Stephenson's close and accurate observation. Of 

 course he was fully alive to any important engineering 

 works which came in his way. Thus, in crossing the 

 river Dordogne, on the road to Bordeaux, he was struck 

 with the construction of the stupendous chain-bridge 

 which had recently been erected there. Not satisfied 

 with his first inspection, he walked back and again 

 crossed the bridge. On reaching the shore he said : 

 " This bridge cannot stand ; it is impossible that it can 

 sustain any unusual weight. Supposing a large body 

 of troops to march over it, there would be so much 

 oscillation as to cause the greatest danger ; in fact it 

 could not stand." He determined to write to the 

 public authorities, warning them on the subject ; which 

 he did. His judgment proved to be quite correct, for 

 only a few years after, no improvement having been 

 made in the bridge, a body of troops marching over it 

 under the precise circumstances which he had imagined, 

 the chains broke, the men were precipitated into the 

 river, and many lives were lost. 



They soon reached the great chain of the Pyrenees, 

 and crossed over into Spain. It was on a Sunday 

 evening, after a long day's toilsome journey through 

 the mountains, that the party suddenly found themselves 

 in one ol those beautiful secluded valleys lying amidst 

 the Western Pyrenees. A small hamlet lay before 

 them, consisting of some thirty or forty houses and a 

 fine old church. The sun was low on the horizon, and, 



