THE BAY OF BISCAY. 143 



the opposite side of the animal, by way of balance, sat 

 the cacolettiera, a sprightly black eyed Basque 

 damsel of lively wit and quick repartee, whose 

 engaging conversation no doubt contributed very 

 materially to compensate the traveller for the length 

 and weariness of the route. 



The progress of civilisation, and the necessity of 

 more rapid and frequent communications, have, how- 

 ever, put an end to these romantic journeyings. A 

 tolerably good road now joins Biarritz to Bayonne. 

 Various omnibuses and minibuses, decorated with 

 the name of diligences, now carry on an active 

 traffic, which is rendered more exciting by the 

 competition of cabs and other carriages ; but I have 

 no doubt that many a traveller, when seated within 

 these dusty and ill-adjusted vehicles, has often 

 regretted the cacolet of former days. Nevertheless 

 a journey to Biarritz is well worth an hour's exposure 

 to dust and the jolting of a rough vehicle. This 

 village is the very realisation of some lovely and 

 picturesque scene in an opera. Imagine a small 

 plateau terminating in a deep gorge, sloping rapidly 

 towards the sea, and surrounded by mountains and 

 rocks, interspersed with precipices and ravines ; the 

 whole scene being abrupt and wild, although on a 

 very miniature scale ; such was Biarritz before it 

 became one of the most celebrated bathing places of 

 southern France. Its two lines of hills advance into 

 the sea in the form of a double-horned cape. To 

 the left at the Pointe des Basques, begins a high 

 range of cliffs, which stretch far towards the south, 

 while to the right the Cote des Fous is dotted over 



