DEPAETMENT OP THE PTEENEES, 297 



" The ground on whicli the permanent houses of Bareges stand is so 

 limited in extent, that they are necessarily few in number, and although 

 erected in the most eligible locality, are perpetually subject to the risk of 

 being overwhelmed by iboulements from the mountain which rises precipi- 

 tously immediately behind them, or swept away by the toreent before them. 

 Buttresses of great strength prop these buildings, but even with this pro- 

 tection they are occasionally seriously injured, and a few years ago were 

 nearly annihilated by the bursting of the Lao d'Oncet, on the slopes of the 

 Pic du Midi. 



" The mountains impending over Bar6ges are composed almost entirely 

 of clay slate, coated by vast alluvial deposits, which frequently descend in 

 the form of mud avalanches. This soil is highly unfavourable to vegetation. 

 Even the hardy pine cannot thrive at Bar6ges, and a few straggling trees 

 above the town are so stunted that they look, on the scared face of iiature, 

 like the result of an abortive attempt to grow a beard on that of man. 



"Bareges in summer consists of numerous temporary wood tenements, 

 which far out-number the permanent houses, and afford accommodation to 

 the visitors. Many of them are devoted to purposes of trade, and the name 

 and business of the shop-keepers are announced on stripes of red cloth hung 

 over the door. The articles sold are for the most part exceedingly trashy ; 

 but the traders doubtless know their customers' wants, and the depth of 

 their purses. I asked the price of ' barege,' not, by the way, made here, but 

 at Bagneres, and found it to be actually dearer than you can buy it in 

 London ; however, the shopkeeper was quite willing to bargain. These 

 wood structures are set up in the beginning of April, care being taken to 

 plant them at a respectful distance from the torrent ; and at the end of the 

 season they are taken down, and stowed away until the following spring. 

 Thus the population of Bareges in winter, when the snow is fifteen feet 

 deep, does not amount to above more than fifty persons, whereas in the 

 height of the season it frequently exceeds 2000." 



Of the works of reboisement the following is the account given in 1869: — 

 " The valley of Bareges is, strictly speaking, only a narrow gorge enclosed 

 between two links of a chain of high mountains, with abrupt slopes, and tooth- 

 like crests. It takes its departure from the Col de Tourmalet, to issue on 

 the valley of Luz, following in so doing, from east to west, a direction almost 

 parallel to the central chain of the Pyrenees. 



" The altitude of the Col is 2122 metres, that of Luz 710 metres ; there 

 is reckoned between these points a distance of 17,730 metres; the average 

 slope of the thalweg may then be given as nearly 8 in the 100. 



" The torrent of the Bastan rolls its waters at the bottom of the valley 

 on a bed of granitic rock, torn from the flanks of the mountain. On the 

 left bank an imperial road goes up to Bareges, whence goes a carri^gp.road, 

 of recent construction, which leads by the Col de Tourmalet to Bagnferes-dsr 

 Bigorre — the last is only passable during four or five months of the year. 



" Five communes — Esterre, Viella, Viey, Sers, and Betpouey — compose 

 the valley of Bareges, and constitute what is called the Vic-de-Labatsus, 

 the vast undivided pasture lands of which are exploited in part by the 

 inhabitants, in part by strangers. 



" The geperal aspect of the country is that of all mountain lands from 

 which the improvidence of man has caused the forests to disappear — it is 

 bare and sad. From whatever side it is contemplated, there meets the eye 



2m 



