DEPABTMENT OP THE PYRENEES. 293 



it oocuTB, and yet the whole of this it is impossible for me to give. In a 

 preliminary statement is given the following, as a brief sketch of the leading 

 features pf the Brfeohe : — " On the west flank of the gigantic Mont Perdu 

 rises Mont Marbor6, consisting of a series of colossal steps or ledges, from 

 the highest of which a huge stone wall stretches to the west, from 400 to 

 600 feet high, in most places absolutely vertical. This vast natural wall 

 forms the crest of the Pyrenees at this part of the chain, and divides France 

 from Spain. In the middle of the natural barrier is a gap, which seen 

 from a distance appears a tiny indentation, but which is in reality a mag- 

 nificent and colossal portal, 134 feet wide and 370 feet high. 



" Near Gfedre, which is about half-way to Gavamie, the mouth of the Val 

 d'H6as is seen, one of the wildest and the most savage of the valleys of the 

 Pyrenees. Close to Gfedre a grand view of the Brfeohe is obtained, making 

 you wonder from its locality, high amidst the eternal snow-covered Tours 

 de Marbor6, how you are to reach it. At Gfedre, the Marbor6 disappears ; 

 but there is an almost over-abundance of grand scenery in the mountains 

 towering to the right and left of that elevation, while there gorges are 

 noisy with foaming cascades which swell the torrent. Close to these 

 cascades — so close that they seem on the point of being swept away — are 

 mills, not much larger than sentry-boxes, one above the other. These mills 

 are of very primitive machinery, closely resembling that of the old hand-mills, 

 but they grind the com, and what more could the best mill in Europe do ? 

 " Beyond Gfedre, you come upon a singularly grand and savage scene, 

 called the Peyrada, or Chaos. It consists of an Sboulement, or slip, of vast 

 masses of gneiss, which have fallen from the precipitous sides of Mount 

 Coum61ie, and so vast and great is the ruin that you would suppose an 

 entire mountain had been shivered to supply the blocks which lie around 

 in grand confusion. The path winds as if it were perplexed how to find an 

 issue from the rocky labyrinth ; and the blocks are so huge that my 

 herculean guide seemed a mere pigmy among them. 



" The mountains increase in majesty as Gavarnie is approached ; the 

 Vignemale, with its glaciers, to the west, and the Pimen6 to the east, 

 ranging among the loftiest. The morning continued highly favourable for 

 our expedition ; the mountain summits stood cloudlessly out against the 

 deep-blue sky, crowned by myriads of soaring peaks, and pinnacles frosted 

 with glittering snow. The path, about half-way between Gavamie and the 

 cerque, is carried over the torrent by two terribly narrow planks, without 

 any manner of railing. Over this frail bridge, not three feet wide, my 

 guide, greatly to my astonishment, rode his pony ; and as my steed mani- 

 fested no asinine disinclination to follow, but, on the contrary, evidently 

 regarded the proceeding as nothing extraordinary, I slackened the bridle, 

 pressed my knees a little closer to the saddle, and committed myself to my 

 fate. The torrent rushed and roared some twenty feet beneath, but my 

 pony was proof against these things ; and what would have tried the nerves 

 of many pedestrians was so familiar to him that he passed steadily over 

 the narrow causeway as if it had been a broad highway. 



" The passage of the torrent issuing from the cerque was the last feat of 

 our horses j for after a brisk canter we dismounted in the arena of the 

 amphitheatre, and turned the animals loose to graze. 



" To render the first impression of the cerque, or oule, more impressive, 

 a small projecting wall of rock masks the entry to the gigantic amphi- 

 theatre. This passed, the end of the world seems gained, for a vast barrier 



