THE i'Vi;i:ni:an uikx -ja:? 



liano's on his back. .lust at tlic iikisI awkward step, wliero 

 you have to stretch round ;iii .lULilf to Icel for the next 

 }>eg, lie nervously glanced ui)wards. The next inoinriit I 

 was conscious of a body — whether man or beasi 1 could 

 not for a mi^ment t(dl. foi- I was mvsolf clingiun- like a flv 

 ou a pane of glass — wliirHng past ni\' head into space. It 

 took us more than ;in hour of caicful hunting for traces 

 of blood and hair on the slichcs of that ditr. before we 

 refound the izzard. crushed out ol' all recoirnition, several 

 hundred feet lower. 



Im'Iow the loftier clilfs. lesser escarpments follow the 

 same level line, divided from one another by sloping 

 shelv(>s nv mrrn'rhcs. as thev are locallv called, which mav 

 be followed for long distances without the possibilit \' (tf 

 asceudino; or desceiidino- from one to another. 



All the Pyrenean streams are lovcdv. owino- to the 

 absence of glaciers and the consecpient clearness of the 

 water, and, ii'oni the lime or other ]iai-ticles hdd in 

 suspension, the deep pools assume a wouileilid opalescent 

 blue. Tn this vallev, the action of the water has polislied 

 till' limestone into a smooth ami ci-eani\ white — pearls set 

 in ametliN'sts. I'Voni these blue deptli>. ihe Spaniards 

 draw, with ver\' piinnli\(' roils and Hies, trout of no mean 

 size. 



In the spring, llii- pari leiilar si i-eam presents a curious 

 daih' [)henoini'iion. In llie earl\' morning;- it alnio-.i runs 

 dry — its sources of .-up[)l\ fio/cn haid but the hoi .liinc 

 sun soon wakes it. ami the \dlume increases till it reaches 

 a maximum about 4 I'.M.. h\' which time it is a ra"iii<'' 

 torrent of ui-eal depth and fon'c. a >t range contra-t lo the 

 cloU'lle-^s sk\'. To cross ii.ouc had. at that time, to pass a 



