164 
A REMINISCENCE OF THE PYRENEES. 
[Nature and Art, June 1, 1867. 
The “ numberless specks ” referred to arise from 
the tact of the several tints being obtained from a 
point of lithographic chalk instead of by Hat washes 
put on with the brush. It is a defect that cannot 
be entirely overcome, where there is any gradation 
of tint to be given ; so that where they are seen to 
exist in a sky or elsewhere, they must be regarded 
as meaning to convey the idea of so many flat tints, 
and should be copied simply as such. There is, 
however, an improvement even in this ; and I am 
constantly impressing upon the mind of the artists 
who copy my drawings upon stone, how requisite it 
is that this granular character should be overcome, 
it being likely to mislead those who are desirous 
of profiting by the several studies presented to 
them. 
I have thought it as well to bring the above 
remarks before the readers of Nature and Art, in 
order to remove any false impression they may 
have entertained upon the subject. 
A REMINISCENCE OF THE PYRENEES. 
I T fell to my lot some time back to spend nine 
or ten months in the midst of the Pyrenees. 
And not content with pursuing the beaten track 
of tourists, and visiting spots well known to all 
travellers in that delightful region, I was resolved, 
if possible, to get a glimpse of some of the wilder 
and more inaccessible passes which are familiar to 
those only who dwell in the neighbourhood, and 
are reported to be grander and more beautiful than 
those usually visited. In the month of July an 
opportunity offered. A party was made up for 
chamois-hunting. The “ chasse aux izzards ,” as it 
is called in the Pyrenees, is a frequent source of 
occupation and profit to the hardy mountaineers on 
both sides of the frontiers; and those visitors who 
are not daunted by some little danger and a good 
deal of fatigue, and who enjoy an excursion where 
they can for the time at least shake themselves 
free from the restraints and conventionalities of 
civilization, would do well to avail themselves of 
such occasions as may offer.* 
The izzards , however, are generally very wild, 
and growing every year scarcer, so that it is very 
possible to go out many times into the higher 
ranges without ever being rewarded even by the 
sight of one. The two great desiderata to secure 
are, 1st, a really experienced hunter who knows 
the haunts of these animals; and, 2nd, a sufficient 
* The identity of the izza/rd with the chamois of the Alps 
has been disputed by some naturalists ; but on no sufficient 
grounds. They are evidently the same animals ; the differences 
are so slight as to be accounted for by the variation in 
climate. The izzard weighs on an average about 45 lbs. 
There are two methods of hunting it. One is stalking, as in 
Scotland, and this, from the nature of the ground, is very 
difficult and fatiguing, and much more uncertain than the 
other, in which the shooters are posted in favourable spots, 
and the izzards are driven towards them by traqueurs. If 
the sport be pursued in the winter or autumn, the game is 
found much lower down on the hills, and the fatigue is much 
less. In the summer you have more settled weather, and 
perhaps better chance of game ; but you must be prepared 
for severer physical trial, both from the greater height 
you must ascend, and from the intense heat to which you 
are inevitably exposed. 
number of thoroughly painstaking traqueurs who 
will carry out the directions of the hunter. All 
the Pyrenean watering-places furnish excellent 
guides for ordinary excursions ; but something more 
than a mere guide is necessary for izzard-hunting. 
The party on the occasion in question consisted 
of a Midlothian laird, an English clergyman, and a 
Mons. de G. , who were to join two French officers 
already in the mountains on a similar expedition, 
with Baranne, an excellent chasseur , who was 
engaged for both parties. We left St. Sauveur at 
six o’clock on a glorious July morning, on horse- 
back, and rode to Cauterets for breakfast, which 
the landlord of the Hotel de France furnished in 
excellent style. By the way, it may be well to 
remark that, in almost all French towns, there is 
a Hotel de France, and that in almost all cases it 
is found to be good. At Cauterets, which is one 
of the best hunting-quarters, we met our guides 
and traqueurs, and held on our way on foot 
through the wonderful scenery to the south-west of 
that place, by the baths of La Raillere to the Pont 
d’Fspagne, a route well known to all Pyrenean 
tourists for its picturesque beauty. Up to this point 
a large number of those who had breakfasted with 
us at the table-d’hote of the Hotel de France 
accompanied us, but they now turned off to the 
south-east, towards the Lac de Gaube, the largest 
of the Pyrenean lakes, situated at the foot of the 
Vignemale, one of the highest peaks of the range. 
We turned across the Pont d’Fspagne to the south- 
west, along the mountain path leading to Panti- 
cosa. The scenery is beautiful beyond description 
— rich in the luxurious foliage of the south. Acres 
are covered with rhododendrons now in full bloom, 
with a dark-green background of pine forests, above 
which the mighty granite peaks tower bare and 
jagged to the clouds. 
On emerging from one of the long stretches of 
forest, we were strangely reminded of home by the 
sound of the bagpipe, which seems to be indigenous 
to most mountain districts; but here it is a very 
feeble instrument compared to its big brother of 
