214 Unexplored Spain 
few yards in height, is so sheer, its surface so devoid of crevice 
or hand-hold, that the ascent (without ropes and other appliances) 
appears quite impracticable. 
Will the reader seat himself in imagination at the spot marked 
(*) on the map. Surveying the scene from this point, the whole 
opposite horizon is filled by the Altos de Morezén—a jagged and 
turreted escarpment pierces the sky, while its frowning walls dip 
down, down in endless precipices to the inky-black waters of the 
Laguna far below. 
Towards the left one’s view is interrupted by an extraordinary 
mass of upstanding granite, disintegrated and blackened by the 
ages, known as the Amedl de Pablo—in itself a virgin mountain, 
as yet untrodden by human foot. This colossus, glittering with 
snow-striz, surmounts the oblique ridge aforesaid, that of the 
Cuchillar del Guetre, which traverses two-thirds of the “ Circo,” 
leaving but a narrow gap between its own extremity and the 
opposite heights of Morezén. 
Continuing towards the right, there rises to yet loftier altitudes 
the black contour of the Risco del Fraile, beloved of ibex; 
while adjacent on the north-west, but on slightly lower level, 
uprear from the snow-flecked skyline three more unscaled 
masses—rectangular monoliths like giant landmarks. This 
trio is distinguished as Los Hermanitos de Grédos, their 
abruptness of outline almost appalling as set off by an azure 
background. 
Farther to the right (in the angle of the square) two more 
mountain-masses—knife-edged, jagged, and embattled along the 
crests—frown upon one another across a gorge rent through their 
very bowels. These two are the Alto del Casquerdzo and the 
Cuchillar de las Navdjas, while the interposed abyss—the Portilla 
de los Machos—cuts clean through the great cordillera, forming a 
natural gateway between its northern and its southern faces. As 
the name implies, this gorge is the main route of the ibex from 
their much-loved Riscos del Fraile to their second chief resort, the 
Riscos del Francés, which occupy the southern face of the sierra 
whose snowfields defy even the heats of August. 
From our present standpoint the southern wall of the Cireo— 
the Cuchillar de las Navdjas—is not visible. This section of the 
quadrilateral is equally abrupt and intricate, dropping in massive 
bastions towards the level of the lake. Just beyond the Plaza de 
